New beginnings
by Evapopefan56
Summary: Two girls land themselves in the care of their Aunt Rachel.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a Friday afternoon and Rachel mason was feeling particularly tired. She was having a stressful day and didn't seem to be able to go a moment without a kid being sent to her office for one reason or another.

She tried to get on with some paperwork for a bit before glancing at the clock, it was a relief to see that it was almost home time for the kids. Rachel was looking forward to getting back and relaxing with her 12-year-old daughter Gaby. Gaby had always been a good kid, her and Rachel were really close, even more so since Gaby's father had died a year or so ago. At first both Rachel and Gaby had really struggled to come to terms with their loss however over time they had gradually started to get over it. Recently however, Gaby seemed to have gotten in with the wrong crowd at school, she was hanging round with some much older girls and no longer seemed as focused on her school work. Gaby also seemed to be going out all the time and Rachel wasn't happy about not knowing where exactly she was.

A few minutes later the phone in Rachel's office rang. Rachel sighed heavily before answering, hoping it was nothing too important.

"Hello" she said

"Rachel it's Steph, it's just to let you know there's no sign of Gaby in my lesson"

Rachel rolled her eyes instantly feeling quite angry at her daughter

"Right thanks for letting me know Steph, I'll see if I can find her now"

Rachel had a good idea who her daughter would be with. When she checked the register, her suspicions were confirmed. Leah and Kelsey, the year 9 girls that Gaby had been hanging round with hadn't showed up to their lessons either.

Feeling really angry now, Rachel rang her daughter's mobile, it didn't really surprise her when there was no answer.

She decided to have a walk round the school and see if she could find them anywhere.

As Rachel was walking down the English corridor she heard giggling and chatting coming from inside one of the toilets.

Frowning, she opened the door. When she did she discovered Gaby and her best friend Molly inside along with Kelsey and Leah.

When they saw Rachel stood there Gaby and Molly instantly looked scared however the older girls looked unfazed, they were more than used to being caught skipping lessons.

"hello girls, sorry to interrupt your little chat" Rachel said icily "Would you like to explain to me why you're in here and not in your lessons?"

Neither Molly or Gaby said a word they were both feeling upset at being caught skiving off and were worried about what Rachel was going to do.

It was weird for Molly and Gaby to have Rachel as their headteacher, they had been best friends since reception and Molly had been round Rachel's house loads before they moved up to secondary school. Gaby especially found it so strange having her Mum as the boss here.

"We couldn't really be arsed going miss" Kayleigh replied cheekily causing Leah to laugh, Rachel however did not look impressed at this response.

"and you think that's acceptable, do you? To throw away valuable lesson time simply because you don't want to go. You should all be ashamed of yourselves" Rachel said sternly "All four of you can go and wait outside my office"

Rachel went off as she had to quickly go and speak to a teacher about something.

Molly and Gaby were feeling pretty scared now, this was the first time they'd ever skipped lessons and they had felt really nervous about it however Kayleigh and Leah had kind of bullied them into it and they didn't dare disagree.

"What are you two kids looking so frightened for" Leah said laughing

"We're not" Gaby mumbled

"You really are pathetic sometimes, but then again it's no wonder when you're masons daughter"

Gaby could feel her cheeks turning red, she hated it when people brought attention to the fact she was the headteachers daughter. This was part of the reason she'd started hanging round with the older girls as she wanted to prove to everyone she wasn't a nerdy little kid. Gaby had always been very popular however she suffered with low self-confidence which seemed to have gotten even worse since starting secondary school.

A few minutes later Rachel appeared. She glanced at all the girls before turning to Kayleigh and Leah

"You two into my office, I'll talk with you first. Molly and Gaby, you wait outside please"

When Kayleigh and Leah went in with Rachel Molly turned to Gaby

"Do you think your Mum will go mad?"

"probably, at least you don't have to live with her though, she'll be going on about it all weekend now" Gaby said sadly

"She won't ring my mum, will she?"

"don't know depends what kind of mood she's in. Your Mum isn't anywhere near as strict as mine though" Gaby pointed out

A few minutes later Kayleigh and Leah walked out even they looked a little sheepish after their telling off from Rachel.

Rachel waited a moment or so before calling the girls in

"Right what have you two got to say for your selves, I hope you know how disappointed I am in you both. You two know better than to skive off lessons"

Rachel always found it strange having to tell Gaby and Molly off in school, however she knew it was important that she did, when Gaby started at waterloo road Rachel had been determined to treat her the same as any other pupil.

"Mum we're really sorry it won't happen again" Gaby said starting to feel upset about it all

"How many times do I have to tell you it's miss mason when we're at school" Rachel snapped "and saying sorry isn't good enough, I want a proper explanation"

Neither of the two girls said anything, they just stared at the floor looking sheepish

"Okay perhaps one of you would like to tell me why you've started hanging round with girls much older than you two huh?"

"We like Kayleigh and Leah" Molly said sounding scared

"Really, because they're not the sort of girls I'd expect the two of you to be hanging round with, you've got a nice friendship group in year 7 so why are you spending all your time with them?"

"Shut up" Gaby said losing her temper "you think you know everything about me but you don't"

Rachel was shocked at Gaby's tone, she would never normally speak to her like that

"How dare you talk to me like that at school Gaby, I am your headteacher"

"Why do you always have to get involved in my life, its literally got nothing to do with you who me and Molly hang round with. You wouldn't be bothered about who any of the other year 7 girls are friends with" Gaby shouted tears forming in her eyes

"oh yes I would young lady if I though they're behaviour and school work were being compromised"

"you're so annoying, all you want to do is try and control me"

Rachel was about to retaliate and really lose her temper however stopped herself, she realised that a shouting match between her and Gaby was the last thing that was needed right now, so instead she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

"Gaby go to the cooler, you can stay there till the bell goes and then do a 15-minute detention. After you've finished your detention I'll come and find you and discuss a punishment for skipping class and speaking to me the way you have"

At first Gaby didn't move but then she grabbed her stuff and ran outside crying.

Rachel then turned her attention to Molly, who looked a bit shocked at what had just unfolded

"Molly I'm sorry about that"

"It's okay Miss"

"Have you got anything to say about this afternoon"

"No Miss" Molly still felt a bit weird calling Rachel Miss, however at the moment she didn't dare call her anything else

"Right well you can spend the rest of the afternoon in my office completing the work you missed, what's left can be homework, you'll also be in detention every break time next week and I'll be calling home to let them know what's gone on" Rachel said, she felt a bit awkward calling Molly's mum over this as she was quite good friends with her, with Molly and Gaby being so close Rachel had met Molly's mum loads of times and they'd even been on nights out together before, however she knew it was only right she called her.

"Miss please don't call my mum" Molly said sounding worried

"I have to I'm afraid Molly it's only fair, isn't it?"

"Miss please don't"

"It's not up for discussion I'm afraid. Go and sit down and start your work please"

Rachel was a bit puzzled however about why Molly didn't want her to call her mum so badly, Lindsay had never been overly strict with her children.

Once Molly had started completing her worksheets, Rachel decided to get on with some more work.

After a while Rachel became so engrossed in her work that she didn't notice Molly crying. It was only when she looked at the clock on her wall she saw how upset she was.

No matter what had happened earlier Rachel still instantly felt sorry for Molly and went over to her.

"Molly what's the matter love?" Rachel asked gently

"Nothing Miss" Molly said hastily brushing her tears away

Rachel sighed before putting her arm on molly's shoulder

"Come on, I don't know about you but I'm absolutely shattered, how about you go and sit on the sofa and we'll get a cup of tea?"

Molly didn't know why Rachel was suddenly being nice to her but she put her stuff away and sat down with Rachel

"Look love I'm sorry if I was a bit hard on you earlier, but you've got to understand I can't treat you any differently to any other pupil okay"

"I know miss and I'm really sorry"

Rachel smiled slightly and put her hand on Molly's "I know you're sorry, it's just been a pretty busy day and I took it out on you and Gaby, but what I really don't understand is why the two of you are spending so much time with those girls, they're honestly not good people to be around"

"I know it's just because we didn't want to look daft in front of them, they would have been horrible to us if we hadn't skipped class with them"

"But what I don't understand is why you've started hanging round with them in the first place"

Molly looked at the ground and started playing with her hands, she didn't want Gaby to be angry with her for telling Rachel the real reason but she knew that she didn't really have much choice

"They kind of saw me and Gaby doing something a couple of weeks ago and said that they'd tell you about it if we didn't do what they say"

"okay what did they catch you doing?"

"They caught me and Gaby trying to get over the back gate at lunch time, I know we shouldn't have been doing it"

"Yes well I can't exactly say I'm delighted about you trying to get out at lunch, but I don't really think it was worth all this do you?"

"We just didn't want to get into trouble"

Rachel sighed "Well I think getting a slight telling off would have been better than putting yourself through hell for the last however many weeks"

"I guess" Molly said

Rachel could tell something wasn't quite right willy Molly by the way she was acting

"Molly is there something else you want to talk about?"

"No miss"

"Are you sure? Because if there was it wouldn't go any further, I wouldn't say a word to Gaby"

Suddenly Molly found her eyes were filling with tears

"love what's the matter"

"Mum and Dad said they might be getting a divorce" Molly said

"Oh Molly no wonder you're feeling upset, that must be awful for you" Rachel said

She wasn't exactly surprised by this news as she knew that Lindsay and Chris's marriage was going through a bad patch

"It's horrible they keep having these rows and they wake me up at night"

"That must be tough on you and your sister" Rachel said sympathetically "but what you've got to remember is all parents row from time to time but it doesn't mean they don't love each other really and it certainly doesn't mean they don't love you"

"I know, mum just keeps snapping at us though, that's why I didn't want you to call her"

"It won't be anything to do with you though my love it'll just be because she's stressed out with what's happening with your dad"

"Are you going to call her Rachel?"

"No not this time, I don't think there's any real reason to is there?"

"It won't happen again"

"Good make sure it doesn't" Rachel said however she didn't sound too firm "now the bells about to go, is your Mum picking you up?"

"Yeah"

"Off you go to meet her then" Rachel said

Molly got her stuff together

Just as she was about to go Rachel said, "and molly you know you're welcome round our house anytime, you know If things do get bad at home just come and stop with us a couple of days"

"Thanks Rachel, I'll see you Monday"

"Have a good weekend love"

Rachel decided she was going to do a bit more work after the bell went

Once all the kids had gone home she got her stuff together and decided to go and get Gaby, hoping they'd be able to talk sensibly now they'd both had a chance to cool off

When she went in the cooler she realised Gaby wasn't in there

"Steph where's Gaby?" Rachel asked

"She went to the toilet about 10 minutes ago, she seemed really upset"

"oh okay I'll go and find her, you can get off home, thanks for keeping an eye on her"

Rachel went over to the toilets and saw one of the doors was locked

"Gaby are you in there" Rachel asked

"Yes" Gaby replied sounding small

"come out now love, let's go to the car and have a chat in there"

Gaby unlocked the door, when she did Rachel could tell she'd been crying loads

Rachel pulled her into a hug

"Come on you, it's okay now"

"Mum I'm so sorry for what I said"

"Do you know what love I think it's a good idea if we forget all about it for now and go home to get a takeaway"

"So you're not mad?"

"no not really, but I should probably tell you that Molly told me about why you've been hanging round with those girls" Rachel said "and even though I'm not exactly happy about you two trying to get out of school I really don't think it was worth all of this do you?"

"No I guess not" Gaby said

"But I'm not going to go on and on, but if in future something like this happens please just let me know" Rachel said

"I will Mum I promise"

"Okay love, come on lets go home"

"Can we get a Chinese for tea?"

"Oh go on then" Rachel said smiling

The two of them went home and got into their pyjamas ordered Chinese before getting all cosy on the sofa

Rachel always loved nights in with Gaby, it was so nice for the two of them to be able to spend time with each other

They'd just put a film on when suddenly the phone started ringing

"I wonder who that can be" Rachel sighed

She then went over and picked up the phone

"Hello am I speaking to a Rachel mason?"

"Yes that's me" Rachel said confused

"I'm Linda Smith, I'm a social worker, I'm afraid I've got some bad news"

"Is it concerning one of my pupils?" Rachel asked instantly starting to feel worried

"No it's actually about your brothers children, Ivy and Amy"

Rachel was shocked when she heard this, she didn't have any contact with her brother, he'd already been in prison twice and was just generally bad news. She knew that he was married and that they had two kids, Amy who was 14 and Ivy who was 6

"Okay what about them?" Rachel asked confused

"I'm afraid they were taken off your brother and his wife a week ago after it was revealed that they were being physically and emotionally abused by them. In the end it did get quite serious"

"What" Rachel said in shock, she knew her brother could be violent but never thought he was capable of harming his own children

"I know it must be a shock, we placed the girls with an emergency foster family but sadly they've decided they can no longer take care of them and you're the only family they've got. I know it's a big ask but we were wondering if you would be happy to take the girls in, even just for a couple of weeks until we can find something more permanent"

"Yes of course" Rachel said instantly

"That's fantastic, I'll bring them round as soon as I can, we will have to go over some paperwork first though"

"okay I'll set up the spare rooms"

"Thank-you so much"

Rachel then said goodbye and hung up the phone before turning to Gaby

She explained what was happening to Gaby who was also in shock, but agreed she was fine with them coming here

The two of them spent the next hour clearing out the spare rooms and trying make them look a bit more cosy

Before long there was a knock on the door

Feeling quite nervous now Rachel went to answer it

She saw the two girls standing there, she noticed at once how frightened Ivy looked, Amy was standing there looking quite indifferent to it all

Rachel could see a lot of her brother in the two girls, both were very pretty, Amy had long brown hair and Ivy was blonde she looked a lot younger than 6 Rachel thought to herself

"Hey girls, do you want to come inside" Rachel said sounding friendly

The girls and Linda stepped inside the house

Neither of the two girls spoke

"Do you want to come through to the kitchen? I can get you a drink or something to eat if you fancy"

The two girls walked through to the kitchen with Linda

"Would you like anything getting"

"I'm alright" Amy said "can I go to your loo?"

"Yes of course, it's erm it's just through the door and first on your left"

Amy nodded before sauntering off

Rachel then crouched down so she was on a level with ivy

"What about you Ivy, would you like something to drink?"

Ivy paused for a second before saying "Please can I have some water"

"Sure I'll go and get you some now" Rachel said smiling

A few minutes later Rachel called Gaby down

"Hi Amy, hi ivy" Gaby said

"Gaby why don't you show Ivy and Amy around the house a bit?" Rachel suggested

"sure, I'll give you the grand tour"

The three girls went off leaving Rachel and Linda alone

"Thank you so much for taking them in last minute"

"Oh it's not bother"

"Both girls are suffering quite a bit, Amy's trying to act like she's not bothered and is just closing up to everyone and Ivy's having some real issues at the moment"

"What sort of issues?"

"Well she's obviously extremely sensitive, she's having a lot of problems with nightmares and bed wetting, so be prepared for that and whatever you do don't punish her for it"

"I wouldn't dream of it, oh the poor little thing it must be awful for her at the moment"

"It is, she just needs to be handled very gently reward good behaviour and go easy on the bad"

"Yes of course"

"And as for Amy, her behaviours pretty bad at the moment, she keeps sneaking out and can be quite rude to people, just be firm with her and make sure she knows the boundaries from the beginning"

"right"

The two women chatted some more and then Rachel signed all the paperwork she needed to

Linda then left so Rachel went upstairs

She went into Ivy's room first and saw her sitting on the bed looking very alone and scared

"Hey love, do you mind if I come and sit down for a second"

Ivy shook her head so Rachel smiled before sitting down next to her on the bed

"I do know how scary this must be for you my love, but I promise after a few days you'll settle in just fine, and you don't need to be scared of anything here okay anything you need you just ask yeah and if you need anyone to talk to at all you come straight to me"

"Okay" Ivy said her eyes filing with tears

"Oh sweetie it's going to be okay you know. I promise nobody here's going to hurt you"

"Even if I'm bad?" Ivy asked

"Darling I promise you're safe here, no matter what you do nobody is going to hurt you or shout nastily at you okay?"

"Okay" Ivy mumbled

"How about we get you unpacked then maybe you can watch a bit of TV before your bath"

Rachel helped Ivy get her stuff unpacked, she couldn't help but be a little shocked about how little she had

Ivy still seemed very scared but a little more relaxed now, Rachel decided to give her a bit of time

"Right I'm going to nip downstairs for a bit and then we'll sort a bath out okay?"

"Yeah okay"

Rachel smiled at her again before leaving her to it

She decided to go and check on Amy as she thought she should try and have a little chat with her

She knocked on the door but when she didn't get an answer she decided to just go in anyway

Rachel was shocked when she saw Amy smoking out the window, she knew she had to stay calm about it though

"Amy can you put that out please"

Amy sighed and rolled her eyes but then put it out

"I don't allow smoking in the house okay is that understood"

"I suppose"

"Where did you get them from, you're too young to buy them yourself"

Amy just shrugged her shoulders in response, Rachel wasn't exactly happy but decided to leave it for now

"Have you unpacked your things"

"Yep"

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"Nope" Amy said, "I'm going out tonight, there's a party"

Rachel didn't really like the sound of this as she thought it was better that they all stayed in tonight

"I think it's better if you stopped at home tonight Amy"

"Tough shit"

"Amy, I know how hard things have been for you and I know that you probably don't want to be here and that you're feeling very unsettled."

"You don't have a clue what I'm feeling"

Rachel ignored this and carried on "but I can't allow you to be disrespectful, while you're in my house you'll live by my rules"

"You can't stop me going out"

"I'm afraid I can, especially when I have no idea where you're going and who you're going to be going out with"

"Fine I'll just stay in my room all night and be miserable if that's what you want" Amy said

"Amy come on be reasonable" Rachel sighed

"No why should I, you don't know anything about me or Ivy. You couldn't be arsed getting to know us when we were little, you hated our family"

Rachel shook her head "No love that's not true, a lot went on between your Dad and I that you don't know about, but it had absolutely nothing to do with you and Ivy believe me"

"Whatever, just leave me alone"

Rachel didn't really know what to say or do but decided to give Amy a bit of space

She went downstairs for a bit before running Ivy a bath

"Ivy your baths ready love" she said

"I don't need one"

"Well I've ran it now so you may as well have it"

Reluctantly Ivy followed Rachel through to the bathroom

"Come on Ivy get undressed" Rachel said gently

"I don't want to"

"It won't take long" Rachel said

She tried to take Ivy's top off for her, but as soon as she did Ivy hit her

It wasn't a very hard slap but it shocked Rachel all the same

Rachel looked up at Ivy who immediately burst into tears

"Ivy look at me" Rachel said sounding calm "We don't hit people in this house okay, nobody here is going to hurt you I promise so there's no need for you to hit"

"I'm sorry" Ivy stammered

"It's okay just don't let it happen again okay"?"

Ivy nodded her head looking scared, she couldn't believe how nice Rachel was being to her but she still didn't fully trust her

"You get yourself undressed then"

Ivy slowly took her clothes off

When she did Rachel noticed the bruises over her body. Seeing them made Rachel want to cry however she knew that now wasn't the time to mention them

She gave Ivy a quick bath but she could see how tired she was so knew she needed to get her to bed

After her bath she dried off her hair and got her into pyjamas

"Right do you need to use the bathroom before bed?"

Ivy nodded

"Okay I'll just wait in your bedroom then"

A couple of minutes later Ivy came back from the bathroom so Rachel tucked her into bed

"Right anything you need during the night you come and find me okay, it doesn't matter what it is or what time it is, just come straight through to my bedroom"

"Okay"

"Night, night then my love" Rachel said, she then smiled at Ivy and flicked the light off

A few hours had passed and everyone was fast asleep

It was about 1 when Ivy woke up suddenly. She felt very confused and scared but soon remembered why she was here.

She looked around the room, everything seemed strange and frightening. All of a sudden Ivy started to cry, she'd been through so much recently and had lost her trust in more or less everyone, she just felt so alone.

A few minutes later Ivy started to feel quite sleepy again but realised she needed to go to the toilet so crept out of bed and made her way across the landing.

Once Ivy had been she started making her way back but suddenly Rachel's door opened, and her auntie came out

"Hey Ivy, is everything okay? I was just getting up to get some water" Rachel asked crouching down beside her, she ten noticed her tear stained face "oh love have you been crying?"

Ivy nodded her head and then her eyes filled with tears again

"Come on, how about you come through to my room and have a little chat?"

Ivy felt a bit anxious but followed her through anyway

Rachel flicked her lamp on and sat down on the bed indicating for Ivy to do the same

"You're having a nasty time of it at the moment aren't you huh?" Rachel said gently. Putting her arm around Ivy

"I feel scared" Ivy whispered

These words made Rachel's heart melt, she hated to think how horrible all this was for the little girl

"I know you do, I know you do my love, but I promise you're going to settle here just fine and I know you don't believe me but I promise you nobody here is going to hurt you"

"I hurt you earlier"

"What?" Rachel said confused

"When I hit you"

"Oh Ivy, it's okay to make mistakes love, I'm not surprised after everything you've been through, all you need to know is that there's no need to hurt people here because you're not in any sort of danger"

Ivy stayed with Rachel for quite a bit longer until eventually she was feeling really sleepy

Rachel took her back through to her bedroom and tucked her back in

"Night then Ivy, if you wake up again come straight to me okay"

"Thankyou" Ivy mumbled

Rachel smiled before flicking of the light.

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It had been about a week since Amy and Ivy had moved in with Rachel and everyone was gradually getting used to the arrangement. Ivy was still very nervous around the house; however, she was slowly starting to feel a bit more relaxed. Amy kept herself to herself most of the time, Rachel had tried talking to her many different occasions however it was pretty obvious that Amy didn't trust her and certainly wasn't going to start opening up to her just yet.

It was a Saturday evening and Rachel was getting some stuff out ready for dinner when Amy came into the kitchen.

Rachel smiled at her as she walked in and to her surprise Amy actually smiled back at her

"Hey love, dinner won't be for a while yet so if you want to get a snack to keep you going feel free"

"No it wasn't that, I was wondering if I could ask you something"

"Of course, you can" Rachel said, she put down the onion she was chopping and turned to face Amy

"Well it's just I kind of miss my friends from home a lot at the moment, and well there's this little party thing going on tonight, so I was wondering if I could go"

Rachel thought about it for a moment, on one hand she really didn't like the idea of Amy going to a party she knew nothing about especially when Amy was only 14, however she also didn't want to push Amy even further away from her and she needed something to cheer her up.

"Erm, will there be alcohol at this party?"

"No, it's only a small gathering, not a proper party" Amy lied

Rachel still wasn't entirely convinced but decided to give Amy a bit of trust and let her go

"Okay well if you promise me there's not going to be any alcohol there, then I'm fine for you to go"

"Thanks Rachel" Amy said smiling

"I'm trusting you Amy, please don't let me down"

Amy knew fine well she probably would end up letting her auntie down, but she honestly didn't care. Amy had been let down by so many people in her life, she didn't trust anyone and didn't even want to try and build relationships with them, everyone she'd ever been close to had ended up leaving her anyway.

"I won't do"

"Okay I'll drop you off their later" Rachel said

"Thank you, is it alright if I go about half 7?"

"Yep that should be fine"

Amy left to go upstairs and start getting ready, while Rachel continued to get on with making tea.

She was just adding the bolognaise sauce to the mince when she saw the door open slightly. However, she was a bit confused when nobody came in so opened it up and saw Ivy stood there looking a bit nervous.

"Hey Ivy, did you want me?"

Ivy just nodded her head in response

"What's up love?"

Ivy didn't say anything in response, just looked at the ground

"I'll tell you what, how about you come and give me a hand with tea" Rachel said

It worried Rachel how quiet Ivy was, she wouldn't talk unless she was directly spoken to and even then, it would often just be one-word answers mumbled under the breath. It was hardly surprising after everything she'd been through, Rachel just wished she could help Ivy settle in properly. She'd almost like it if Ivy misbehaved a little bit, or was a bit cheeky to her, as this would show she felt more relaxed here.

"Do you want to do me a favour and grab a wooden spoon, you can stir the sauce round the pan"

Ivy grabbed a spoon and started stirring

"hey, you're doing a good job there" Rachel said smiling at her

"Rachel?" Ivy said suddenly

"Yes love"

"Do I have to go to school on Monday still?" Ivy stammered

Rachel sighed, she should have guessed what this was about. On Friday Rachel had decided that it was time to get the girls back into school, she thought that getting them into a proper routine would be good for them and would help them settle in. Amy hadn't seemed too bothered about it, she was going to be starting at Waterloo road. However, as soon as Rachel had told Ivy the plan she hadn't seemed happy at all and was even quieter than usual.

"Yes Ivy, and when you go you're going to enjoy it I promise"

Tears suddenly filled Ivy's eyes

"No I won't I'm not going and you cant make me" Ivy screamed

Rachel was shocked at Ivy raising her voice like that, but before she had chance to respond Ivy ran off upstairs, clearly terrified she was going to get into trouble for shouting.

Rachel decided to give her a bit of space and go and talk to her later

About 15 minutes had passed, so Rachel put the bolognaise on to simmer and went upstairs

She knocked on Ivy's door before entering

As soon as Ivy saw her auntie she backed away into the corner of her room, she was still crying

"Go away, you can't hit me because I'll get Amy to hit you back" Ivy said, she was trying to sound brave but there was fear evident in her voice

"ivy I …" Rachel said walking over to her

"Get away from me, don't come any closer" Ivy screamed

It made Rachel feel so upset that Ivy still felt that she was going to hurt her, but after the abuse she'd suffered from her parents in the past it was completely understandable

"Ivy I'm not going to hit or do anything to hurt you and I never will." Rachel said "I promise you I am not going to touch you, come on come over here"

"Yes, you will, you'll say that and then you still will" Ivy sobbed "I'll never know that you definitely won't hit me if I come over to you"

Rachel's heart melted hearing Ivy say this, it made her want to cry realising how scared she was

"You know what you're absolutely right Ivy" Rachel said

"So, you are going to hit me?"

"No, you're right in that you can't tell for definite that I'm not going to hurt you if you come over here" Rachel said "you've just got to trust me. In the week you've been living here, have I ever given you some sort of reason not to trust me? Have I ever spoken nastily to you? Have I hurt you? Have I ever made you do something you don't want to do"?

Ivy started to calm down a little

"no" Ivy said, "But I keep thinking you still might"

"I know you do and I understand that Ivy." Rachel said calmly "Have I ever told you what my job is?"

"You work in a school"

"Yeah that's right. For nearly 20 years now I've been a teacher and now I'm a head teacher, I've spent half my life working with children, do you really think I'd do that if I wanted to hurt them"

"No" Ivy said

"How about you come over here then" Rachel said

Ivy thought about it for a few seconds and then slowly came out the corner and over to Rachel

Much to Rachel's surprise, Ivy suddenly wrapped her arms around Rachel

"Hey Ivy, its okay" Rachel soothed

"I'm so sorry for shouting"

"Don't worry, you were scared weren't you huh, but I promise you don't have to be scared anymore"

"Do I still have to go to school?"

"Ivy why don't you want to go to school?" Rachel asked gently

"I'll hate it, everyone will be really scary"

"No love its really not like that, I've had a look around and everyone seemed lovely, your class teacher was so friendly"

"Really?"

"Yes I promise, look I'll make you a deal you give it a try for me for one week and if you really don't like it I'll find somewhere else for you to go"

"Okay"

"So we've got a deal then"

Ivy thought for a moment "Yeah"

Rachel and Ivy talked for a bit longer, but then Rachel realised she had to finish the tea off before it burnt

About 10 minutes later it was ready, so she called everyone down

By now all the girls were starving so came straight downstairs

However, once Gaby saw what it was she pulled a face

"what's wrong Gaby you love spag bol" Rachel said

"It's got meat in, I told you yesterday I don't want to eat meant anymore, I want to be a vegetarian"

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes exasperated, she was only half listening when Gaby had been going on about it the other day and hadn't realised she was being serious

"why do you want to be a vegetarian, you like meat?" Rachel asked

"Yes but just because I like it, doesn't mean it's right. It's disgusting how we torture millions of animals every year just, so we can eat them, there's loads of food we could have instead and I'm not eating any more meat"

"Well I've cooked it now, what difference does it make"

"Because I'd rather not eat dead cow"

"Oh Gaby stop it, some of us want to enjoy it" Rachel said

"Don't tell me to stop it, you're the one who should stop eating dead animals"

"Gaby up until yesterday you were fine with it, if you don't want to eat meat anymore then that's fine, but you can make your own meals and you won't stop anyone else eating what they chose to eat" Rachel said firmly "Now are you going to have your spaghetti or not?"

Reluctantly Gaby picked up her fork and started eating

Rachel smiled to herself, knowing this whole being a vegetarian thing would last all of two minutes

"I used to be a vegetarian Gaby" Amy said

Rachel was surprised, it was unusual for Amy to speak at all over dinner, normally she'd finish her food as quickly as possible then go back to her room

"Did you really" Gaby said

"Yeah, then one day I was at my friends and I could smell bacon and couldn't resist" Amy said causing them all to laugh

"Are you looking forward to your party later Amy?" Rachel asked

"Yeah it'll be so good, I'm really excited to see all my friends"

"You're letting Amy go to a proper party, that's so unfair you'd never let me go to one" Gaby sulked

"Amy's 2 years older than you are Gaby and besides it's not a proper party anyway is it Amy?"

"No just a few of us going round my friend Beth's house" Amy said, "You can help me get ready if you like"

"Really! Will show me how to do your eyes how you do them"

"Sure"

"Well don't you go getting any ideas young lady, you're far too young to be wearing lots of makeup" Rachel said, although she didn't mind really, it was nice to see Amy being nice to Gaby as she'd love it if they got on properly

They actually had a really nice meal together and Amy even offered to wash up afterwards

"No, it' alright love, you go and get ready" Rachel said, "Thanks for offering though, it's more than I'd ever get off Gaby"

As Amy went upstairs, Rachel smiled it was so nice to see her trying to get on with people.

Amy and Gaby were sat on the bed in Amy's room

"You've got such nice makeup" Gaby said, "Mum doesn't let me wear much"

"Thanks, you can borrow mine anytime"

"Really?"

"Yeah sure, you're lucky though, you're naturally pretty I look awful without makeup on"

"No, you don't"

"Yeah, my skins awful, especially if I'm nearly due my period." Amy said, "Does yours ever get like that?"

Gaby's cheeks flushed slightly, she hadn't started her period yet but felt too embarrassed to admit this to Amy, she didn't want her to think she was a little kid still

"Yeah sometimes"

"It sucks to be a girl sometimes doesn't it?" Amy said smiling

Amy had grown quite fond of Gaby since she'd been living at Rachel's, she thought she seemed like a really nice girl

"I'm desperate for a fag, you won't tell Rachel if I stick my head out the window and have one will you"

Gaby was shocked when she heard Amy say this, she knew her Mum had caught Amy with one when she first moved In but didn't know she still had any

"I won't tell" Gaby said

Amy flashed Gaby a smile "Thanks babe"

Amy lit her cigarette out the window and took a drag

Gaby stared at her, she couldn't help but think it made Amy look really grown up when she was smoking

"Amy, can I try it?" Gaby asked timidly

"What? No way you're far too young, plus it's an awful habit"

"I only meant like to have a go, I don't actually want to start smoking"

"Oh, alright then, one drag, you'll hate it anyway" Amy said

Gaby smiled and went over to the window

Nervously she took the cigarette out of Amy's hand, she put it to her mouth and took a drag on it. Almost instantly she started coughing and spluttering

Amy laughed at her reaction

"What did I tell you"

"It wasn't too bad" Gaby lied, wanting to impress Amy

"Oh, come off it, you hated it and I'm not surprised" Amy said

She took a few more drags on the cigarette before stubbing it out and going back to finish getting ready

Gaby saw her reach in her bag and pull out a bottle of vodka

"Is that alcohol?"

"Yeah I've got to have something to get me in the mood for going out" Amy said grinning, she then took a few swigs of it and grimaced "Bloody hell that stuff is vile, still it gets you pissed quickly though"

"I thought you said no one was going to be drinking there"

"No that's what I told your Mum, of course we're going to be drinking in fact I intend on getting absolutely smashed, god knows I need it"

Gaby didn't feel entirely comfortable with this but didn't say anything

"I'm going to get changed, though actually I better just put some leggings and a top on for now since I told your Mum it was casual, I'll put my dress in the bag to get into later"

Amy got changed and then a few minutes later went downstairs

"Oh you look lovely Amy" Rachel said approvingly

"Thanks Rachel"

"Do you want to get going then"

"Yeah if that's okay"

Rachel got all the girls in the car and they headed off

It took about 15 minutes to get there

"Bye Amy have a nice time, let me know if your friend cant take you back and I'll come and get you, be home by 12"

"Thanks for the lift Rachel"

"No worries love"

Amy then went inside, she did feel a little guilty lying to her auntie when she'd been so nice to her this evening.

By the time they got back Ivy was starting to feel quite tired, so Rachel decided to put her to bed

"Right come on you bedtime" She said to Ivy

Ivy followed Rachel upstairs and into her bedroom

She got into her pyjamas and Rachel put her clothes in the washing basket

"Right if you brush your teeth and go to the loo, we might have time for a quick story before bed"

Ivy liked the sound of this so quickly went to the bathroom before running back to her room

Rachel read to her for a little while, but then Ivy started to grow very tired

"Should we leave the rest till tomorrow huh?"

"Okay" ivy said

Rachel then tucked her into bed properly, Ivy always liked It when she did this, it made her feel secure.

"Night and god bless my love"

"Night auntie Rachel"

"Remember to come through if you need me" Rachel said before slicking the light off and closing the door

Rachel then went downstairs and put some tv on with Gaby. It was nice for the two of them to spend some time together again, however Rachel did notice that Gaby didn't seem her normal self.

At about 9.30 Rachel decided to get Gaby to bed

"Right, I think its bed time, don't you?"

"Yeah I'm quite tired"

"Go and get yourself sorted then, I'll be up in a few minutes to say goodnight"

Gaby got ready and then got into bed

Rachel knocked on her door before coming in

She went over and sat down on her bed

"Gaby has something happened love?" Rachel asked

"No why?" Gaby asked

"You just seem a bit quiet that's all, you know you can tell me anything don't you?"

"Honestly Mum, I'm fine, I just feel really tired that's all"

Rachel wasn't entirely convinced, however she decided not to push it anymore.

"Okay, night darling sleep well"

"Night Mum"

Rachel then left and decided to get on with a little bit of work in her study, normally she liked to avoid work as best she could over the weekend however she had so much to do and didn't want to leave it all till tomorrow night.

By now Amy was completely drunk, she'd already been sick a few times and could barely see, however she wanted to get even worse. Drinking was the only thing that seemed to help, it helped her to black it all out.

All Amy's friends were starting to get a bit worried about her, they'd never seen her get this bad before

Amy went into the kitchen and grabbed some alcohol, by now she didn't care what she was drinking, she just wanted to black it all out.

Suddenly though she started to feel really unwell, so she took herself off to the bathroom, she tried to get to the toilet to be sick however she couldn't see where it was properly and ended up throwing up all over herself, she then collapsed to the floor, quickly falling unconscious

About 10 minutes passed when suddenly one of Amy's friends walked into the toilets

She gasped when she saw Amy on the floor and rushed over to her

"Amy can you hear me" she said trying to shake her awake

However, Amy didn't respond to her

Jasmine called Amy's other best friend into the toilet and together they tried to get her to wake up but she barely stirred

"Should we call for an ambulance"

"Yeah, I think we'd better, we should let her auntie know too"

"Amy said she hates her though"

"Well we still need to tell her, where's her phone I know her password"

Chloe grabbed Amy's bag and passed it to jasmine, who found Rachels number

Rachel was just about to go to bed when she heard her phone ringing, she saw it was Amy so quickly answered it, thinking she must need a lift back or something

"Hey Amy, is everything okay?"

"hello it's jasmine, I'm one of Amy's friends, she's in a really bad way"

Hearing this instantly made Rachel feel worried and extremely let down by Amy

"What you mean she's drunk"

"Yeah, she passed out in the toilets and she'd been sick and wet herself, we don't know whether to call for an ambulance"

Hearing how serious this all sounded made Rachel panic

"Is she conscious?"

"No not really, she stirred a tiny bit but then just went back to sleep"

"Right, can you call the ambulance, tell them exactly what's happened, I'll be there as soon as I can. Thanks so much for letting me know"

Jasmine put down the phone, she was surprised how nice Rachel sounded, Amy had portrayed her quite differently to how she sounded now

Rachel quickly got together a change of clothes for Amy and put them in a bag

She decided to wake up Gaby and tell her to keep an eye on Ivy while she was out, normally she wouldn't leave Ivy alone, but she didn't want her seeing Amy in this state. If Amy did end up needing to go to hospital she would ring her Mum and tell her to come and help look after the girls.

Once Rachel had woken up Gaby she grabbed her car keys and rushed out the house

She drove as quickly as she possibly could, and just hoped she'd avoided any speed cameras.

After what seemed like forever she arrived at the house

The party was still in full swing and Rachel felt very out of place making her way through a load of drunk teenagers

Suddenly Jasmine spotted Rachel and went up to her

"Hi Rachel, she's just through here"

Rachel followed Jasmine through and soon spotted Amy unconscious on the floor

"Oh my god" She said before rushing over

"Amy love, can you hear me" Rachel said trying to shake her a bit

When Amy didn't respond Rachel decided to prop her head up onto her lap, she noticed Amy was shivering slightly

"Girls can you do me a favour, can you go and find me some blankets and bring through a glass of water please, I'll get her changed, I'm going to lock this door, so no one comes in but just knock when you come back okay?"

"Yeah sure" Jasmine said before going off with Chloe

Rachel locked the door and turned to Amy

"Amy I'm going to get you changed okay, get you into something a bit warmer and cleaner" Rachel said even though she wasn't sure if Amy could hear her

Luckily Amy had a strapless dress on, so it wasn't that difficult to ease her out of it

She's brought Amy some leggings and a jumper so got her into them

"There we go love, you're sorted now" Rachel said, "Can you hear me at all yet huh?"

Amy suddenly stirred a bit and nodded her head

"You can, oh that's great, what's my name Amy?"

"Rachel" Amy said faintly

"Good girl, now can you tell me what you've had to drink hmm, can you remember?"

"vodka"

"Vodka? Okay how much vodka Amy?"

"Bottle"

"Right, and have you had anything else, have you taken anything? It's okay you can tell me if you have"

"Shots"

"Shots of what?"

"Absinthe, sambuca"

Hearing how much she'd drank made Rachel even more worried but she was trying to stay calm

"How many shots?"

"4"

"Right okay, your friends have done a great job of looking after you haven't they huh? We've called for an ambulance to check you over, see if you need to go to hospital"

"Feel sick" Amy slurred

Rachel got her to sit up and put her head towards the toilet, where Amy suddenly started throwing up

Rachel tied Amy's hair back for her and rubbed her back

"That's it love you'll feel a bit better for that"

Amy's body suddenly went limp again and she fell to the floor

Rachel caught her and got her to sit upright

"Amy I'm going to keep you sitting up, just in case you're sick again okay"

There was a knock on the door and Amy's friends came back with blankets and pillows

"thanks girls"

Rachel then wrapped the blanket round her niece and tried to get her feeling more comfortable

"How long ago did you call the ambulance?"

"About 25 minutes ago" Jasmine said

"Right it shouldn't be too long then, thanks so much for looking after her"

"It's okay, is she going to be okay?"

"She seems a bit more alert now, so I'd say she's over the worst, they might still want to admit her though I don't know"

"is she going to get in loads of trouble?"

Rachel sighed before saying "I bet Amy's told you how much of a monster I am hasn't she"

The two girls looked at each other uncomfortably

"It's alright girls, I know she's not my biggest fan, and yes come tomorrow she's going to be in for the biggest lecture of her life but right now I just want to make sure she's okay that's all"

"My mum would kill me if I ever got like this"

"Well I'm not exactly happy about it, but Amy's had a really rough few weeks. How did she get in this state anyway?"

"She just kept on drinking, even when he was really bad. We told her to stop but she didn't"

"Well she'd lucky to have you both" Rachel said smiling "Send her a nice text in the morning, let her know you're still friends even if she has ended up like this"

"Yeah, we will, we weren't annoyed at her we just wanted to make sure she was okay"

"Well I'm sure she'll be absolutely mortified in the morning"

By the time the ambulance came, Amy was a lot more alert

The paramedic assessed her but decided she didn't need to be admitted to hospital and was okay to go home, Rachel was glad about this as she hadn't really fancied a night in hospital but would have stayed with Amy if she had been admitted

"Right I'm going to get her home, do you two girls want a life or do you want to stay longer"

"I'd love a lift if that's okay, I'm not really in the party mood anymore"

"Yeah me too"

Rachel smiled at them before helping Amy up and getting her into the car

Once she'd dropped Chloe and Jasmine off she turned her attention back to Amy

"Right you, let's get home yeah?"

By the time they'd got home Amy had sobered up quite a bit but was still in a pretty bad way and needed Rachel to help her upstairs to bed

"How do you feel now" Rachel said as she got Amy sorted

"Okay" Amy said but then suddenly tears filled her eyes

"Come and sit down a minute love" Rachel said

Amy sat next to her and suddenly started sobbing, Rachel sighed and brought her into her chest

"Hey come on it's okay, you're safe now"

"I wish I wasn't, I wish I'd drank so much I'd died" Amy cried

"No you don't, you don't mean that at all" Rachel said feeling worried by what Amy was saying

"Yes I do, my life's shit, everyone who was meant to look after me ended up abusing me, everyone I ever liked ended up leaving"

"You know what you're right, you've been dealt a pretty crap deal so far, but you're still young things can change and I'm not going to leave you"

"Why are you being nice?"

"I'm not a complete witch you know" Rachel sighed "despite what you think I do actually care about you and Ivy, a massive amount, and when I saw you tonight I was terrified"

Amy paused for a moment before saying "Thank you, and I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you"

"It's okay" Rachel said "Come on you need to get some sleep we can talk in the morning okay, I've brought a bucket up in case you're sick"

Rachel then tucked in her and left her to sleep

By the time she got to bed, Rachel was exhausted and fell asleep straight away

Amy actually woke up pretty early the next morning, some of last nights events came back to her and she started to feel more and more embarrassed, she didn't want to face Rachel this morning.

Rachel woke up at about 8, she got out of bed immediately to check on Amy.

When she walked into her room she was surprised to find her awake

"I wasn't expecting to find you awake. How's the head this morning?" Rachel asked

"Awful"

"I'm not surprised, look we need to have a proper talk about last night, come downstairs in 10 minutes"

Amy sighed but got out of bed a few minutes later, put her dressing gown on and went downstairs

She was surprised to see that Rachel had made her a coffee and put some biscuits out

"Thanks for the coffee"

"Come and sit-down Amy" Rachel said

Nervously Amy went and sat on the sofa next to Rachel

"I'm sorry about last night"

"Have you got any idea of the state you were in, you'd thrown up, wet yourself you were barely conscious when I found you"

Hearing this made Amy cry, she couldn't believe some of her friends had found her like that, she felt mortified

"I just cant believe you would get yourself like that, you're far too young to be drinking Amy" Rachel said "and you can't tell me ending up like that was fun, we had to call an ambulance for god's sake"

"I'm so sorry"

"It's not about you being sorry, its about you realising the danger you put yourself in, you could have died Amy"

"Drinking just helps with stuff, it helps me forget what Mum and Dad did"

Rachel couldn't help but feel sorry for her "Amy what they did to you and Ivy was horrific but getting in a state like last night won't help, trust me"

"How would you know"

"Trust me I know what its like to have someone who's supposed to protect you abuse you" Rachel said

"How do you mean?" Amy asked

Rachel took a deep breath and decided to open up to Amy "When I was quite a bit younger than you, my uncle, well he started to abuse me, not physically but sexually, he would make me feel so guilty for it, said it was what I wanted, what I deserved. I couldn't tell anyone, I was too scared, he would manipulate me into thinking it was entirely my fault. It was the worst time of my life Amy, and it nearly broke me. But in the end I told my Mum and she reported it in a second. It still hurts though even after all this time"

Amy sat feeling shocked at what her auntie had told her, she couldn't believe it. "Rachel I'm so sorry I had no idea"

"No and neither does anyone else, what I've just told you Amy, well it's in the strictest confidence. I've never told Gaby and I do not want her knowing okay"

"I won't tell her I swear"

"Good, and last night Amy, it can't happen again. I think it might be a good idea to set you up with some counselling, it could help"

"Okay" Amy mumbled

"Now I'm not going to go on about it anymore, you know why it was so stupid, and I'm going to ground you for 2 weeks"

"That's fair enough"

"It's more than fair after what you put me through last night, now go and shower, get ready for the day, you needn't think you're having a day in bed"

"Okay" Amy said smiling "Rach, thanks so much you know for .."

"It's okay" Rachel said giving her a smile "Go and get ready"

Please review xxxx


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was getting late on the Sunday evening, Amy was in her room, she was feeling awful about what had happened the other night still, as well as really embarrassed. Both Ivy and Amy were starting to feel nervous about going to school the next day too.

Rachel was downstairs getting some food ready for Ivy's packed lunch, when suddenly Gaby appeared in the kitchen

"Hey love, do you want some lunch making up for tomorrow or do you just want me to give you some lunch money?"

"Lunch money please"

"How much do you have on your account?"

"erm like £1 I think"

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes "Honestly Gaby I gave you £15 just last Wednesday, what on earth do you spend it on?"

Gaby thought that it was best not to answer that question, given that she'd actually spent half her lunch money last week buying biscuits for Josh in the year above in exchange for energy drinks

"Guess I'm just hungry all the time"

"Well I'll give you a tenner, you better make it last though"

"Mum my stomach really hurts" Gaby said

"Really, when did that start?" Rachel asked sounding a little worried

"about an hour ago"

"where does it hurt?" Rachel asked

"Just kind of in the middle"

"Well see how it goes, if it gets any worse come and find me and I'll get you some paracetamol"

Gaby then left to go upstairs and started playing on her phone

By this point it was getting quite late so Rachel decided to go and put Ivy to bed. Rachel knew how nervous Ivy was about starting school tomorrow and wanted to make sure she felt relaxed and had a good night's sleep before it.

She found Ivy in her bedroom playing with some of her dolls, Rachel stood and watched her for a moment or so and smiled to herself, it was nice to see Ivy playing.

"Ivy love, it's time for bed"

Ivy put her toys away neatly and picked up her pyjamas and started getting changed, she handed her clothes to Rachel who put them in the washing basket

"Nip to the bathroom, then I'll come and say night"

Ivy wandered off to the bathroom.

As she was brushing her teeth, she suddenly started to feel really scared again about tomorrow, she was dreading going in to school

About 10 minutes had passed and Ivy still hadn't come out the bathroom, so Rachel decided to go and check if she was okay

"Ivy is everything alright in there?"

"Yeah" Ivy replied, however Rachel could sense how upset she sounded

"Are you on the toilet? Can I come in?"

Ivy paused for a second before unlocking the door and coming out

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked expectantly

"Yeah" Ivy mumbled

Rachel sighed before walking Ivy back to her room, thinking she could try and have a talk with her in there

"It is going to be alright you know" Rachel said putting an arm around Ivy

Ivy just shuffled and stared at the ground

"What is it you're so scared of huh?"

"I don't know"

"I can't help if you won't talk to me you know"

Rachel sat with Ivy for a bit longer however it was obvious that Ivy wasn't going to talk to her, so she decided to give her a bit of space

"Night Ivy, try and get a decent sleep"

When Rachel left Ivy instantly began to cry, she felt so scared about starting school tomorrow, she was terrified all the other kids would laugh at her because she wasn't as big as them or as clever as them

Rachel got on with some work for a bit before deciding to head upstairs to check on Amy and Gaby

She knocked on Amy's room before going in

She found Amy on her phone, sit was obvious she'd been crying

"Hey love, is everything okay?"

"No" Amy mumbled

Rachel sighed and went and sat down next to her

"Are you still upset about last night?"

"I can't believe how much of an idiot I must have looked"

"Oh love, you made a mistake, that's all you can't go beating yourself up about it forever can you?"

"I know but I just feel so stupid"

"I know but give it a week or so it'll all be forgotten, someone else will get insanely drunk at a party then the focus will all be on them"

Amy knew Rachel was right, but she still felt so upset about it all, she also couldn't believe how kind her auntie had been to her over the last couple of days and it made her feel bad for being so horrible to her when she first started living here

"Rach?"

"Yeah"

"Thanks for being so nice, I never realised you were like this"

Rachel smile slightly "What you're shocked to discover I'm not actually a mean old witch"

"No it's just … no one's ever cared before"

Hearing this caused a lump to form in Rachel's throat

"Well I care Amy, very much" She said, "I know things were bad between your dad and me, but I still thought about you a lot"

"why did you fall out with him?"

"Oh love it was all a long time ago"

Rachel didn't want to get into the details of this with Amy, she just didn't feel right talking badly about her Dad in front of her

"You don't have to protect him for me, I don't give a crap about him"

Rachel sighed before saying "We fell out when I was 25, by this point he'd already been in prison once for beating up this guy and I knew he had a drug addiction, he tried asking me for money and of course I said no and then he got violent with me, I was pregnant at the time"

"With Gaby?"

"No not with Gaby" Rachel said quietly "it was a year or so before I fell pregnant with her, I was only about 12 weeks along and he punched me in the stomach and I lost my baby, I've never spoken to him since"

Tears filled Amy's eyes "He's an evil bastard"

"I thought he would have changed when he had you"

"No, he's always been a shit. It got worse though after Ivy was born, that's when he got really violet, he'd punch me and when Ivy was about 4 he started on her too"

Rachel shook her head in disbelief

"I can't understand how anyone could be so cruel" Rachel said, "Did no one ever get suspicious, your teachers or anyone?"

"No not really, I coped with it well, hid all the marks he left"

"You shouldn't have had to" Rachel said gently "What about Ivy?"

"Well that's how they found out in the end, he hit her quite badly one day and then she had to go into school, she got herself into a right state she was sick everywhere and I think she must have kind of fainted or something and then her teacher got worried even though Ivy wouldn't say what had happened. Ivy got sent home and the teacher must have reported it to someone. Dad picked Ivy up though and he must have hit her really badly, social services came around later and found her in such a bad way. That's when we got taken off mum and dad"

"Poor Ivy no wonder she's so terrified of school, I guess she'll just have really bad memories of it"

"Yeah, she hated it, the kids in her class used to pick on her because she was so small and quiet, and because her clothes were never clean" Amy explained

"It must have been so awful for you both"

"Ah well it's over now" Amy said

"Amy, you do know you're safe, here don't you? You and Ivy?"

"Yeah, I know, I didn't feel it at first, but I do now"

"I'm glad, and if ever you want to talk about any of it, you just come and find me yeah?"

"Yeah" Amy said, "What time do I need to be up tomorrow for school?"

"Well unfortunately it'll be even earlier than usual because we'll have to get Ivy sorted, so maybe about 6.30"

"Ew that'll be so grim"

"You'll get used to it soon enough" Rachel said smiling

"I hope so" Amy said

"Well I'm going to check on Gaby then have my bath, so I'll leave you to it, don't stay up too late okay?"

"I won't, night Rach"

"Night love, sleep well"

Rachel then went off, she wanted to check on Gaby but when she went in her room she realised she was already asleep, Rachel smiled before closing her bedroom door

It was about 11 and Ivy was having a restless night's sleep, she woke up suddenly and realised she'd wet the bed. She instantly began to panic as she was scared about what Rachel would say when she found out, the couple fostering her before Rachel had been so angry with her about it, and Ivy had been so relieved when it hadn't happened at Rachel's house.

She didn't know what do and just sat there in bed for a while feeling all cold and uncomfortable

In the end she decided to go and see Amy however when she went into her room she realised she was fast asleep. Ivy knew she'd have to tell Rachel about it, she just felt really scared to.

Rachel's door was closed. Ivy stood there for a good minute or so shaking with fear, she felt sick about having to tell her auntie. In the end she took a deep breathe and knocked on the door

Rachel had just got out the bath and didn't have any clothes on when she heard the knock

"Just a second" She called

She quickly wrapped a towel around her hair and put some pyjamas and a dressing gown on before opening the door

Rachel saw Ivy looking all scared so crouched down next to her

It was weird for Ivy seeing Rachel without all her makeup and hair done, because normally she'd be ready before Ivy got up

"Hey Ivy, what's up?" She asked

"I'm sorry" Ivy said before bursting into tears "I couldn't help it, I didn't mean to"

"oh ivy I'm sure you didn't, what is it darling?"

"When I was asleep I wet my bed"

Rachel felt really sorry for Ivy as she seemed so upset about it and she could tell how embarrassed she was having to come and tell her this

"okay love, don't worry, it's no big deal"

"Are you cross?"

"No not even a little bit, unfortunately it's not something that can really be helped is it, come on sweetie let's go and get you sorted"

Rachel took hold of Ivy's hand and they went through to her bedroom

"I'm going to nip downstairs and put everything in the wash, take your pyjamas off love I'll get you some fresh ones"

Ivy quickly took them off and handed them to Rachel

"There's some fresh ones, why don't you go and have a quick wash in the bathroom, I'll be back up in a sec"

Rachel was downstairs putting Ivy's stuff in the wash when suddenly Gaby came down

"Oh my god you made me jump"

"Sorry I heard you come down, what you doing?"

"Ivy had an accident, I'm just sorting her stuff out, only don't say anything to her"

"I won't is she okay?"

"Yeah I think she's just probably got upset about school" Rachel said "are you okay"

"My stomach still hurts"

"I'll get you some paracetamol" Rachel said going in the medicine cupboard and getting two out

"I'm going back up to bed, night mum"

"Night love you"

Rachel then went back upstairs and into Ivy's room, she found her looking all upset on her bed

She went and sat down next to her

"Ivy it really doesn't matter you know" Rachel soothed

"I really didn't want to do it"

"Of course, you didn't Ivy, but you couldn't help it. Look love, everyone's wet their bed a few times in their life"

"But I do it all the time"

"And is it any wonder with everything going on at the moment, you're just feeling a bit unsettled darling that's all. Between you and me, when I was even older than you were I used to do it more or less every night, so you don't have to feel embarrassed love"

"Really"

"Yeah really, it's just one of them things" Rachel said, "Have you been worrying about school huh?"

Ivy nodded

"I know how scared you are but it'll all be fine I promise" she said, "Look how about you come in with me for tonight"

Ivy liked the sound of this

"Come on then"

Ivy followed her auntie through to her room

Rachel quickly dried her hair off before getting into bed

They were both tired so fell asleep straight away

The alarm went off far too early for Rachel's liking the next day, she laid in bed for a few minutes before dragging herself up

She quickly started to get ready and do her hair and makeup before waking Ivy up

"Hey darling, did you have a good sleep?"

"Yeah" Ivy said, "Your bed is so comfy"

"I know it makes it hard to get out of in the morning though, come on lets get you ready for school, I got you a uniform last week"

Ivy got changed before brushing her teeth

"Should we plait your hair"

"Yes please"

Rachel did a neat French plait in Ivy's hair before going to wake Amy and Gaby up

She knocked on Amy's door and then walked in

"Amy" she said however she didn't wake up, so she shook her awake

"It's night time go away" Amy mumbled

"It's time to get up for school"

Eventually Amy sat up ad flicked her light on

"Breakfast in twenty minutes"

Amy could tell her auntie was becoming less like Rachel and more like miss mason, it was going to be weird for her seeing Rachel in school

When Rachel went into Gaby's room she was surprised to find her awake clutching her stomach

"Hey, is your stomach still bad?"

"It hurts so much"

"Where does it hurt"

"All in my right side"

Rachel was about to say that Gaby could have the day off school today when suddenly she remembered something

"And this stomach pain has absolutely nothing to do with the year 7 maths assessment that's happening today huh?"

"What? No, it genuinely hasn't mum, I'd completely forgotten we even had it"

"I wasn't born yesterday, look I know maths isn't your favourite subject but that doesn't mean you can skip school for it"

"But it's really sore, why don't you believe me?"

"What like how your head was really sore last time it was the maths assessments" Rachel sighed "You're going to school and that's final"

Gaby realised there was no point in arguing, even though she was in a lot of pain

About an hour later they were all in the car on the way to school, they arrived at Ivy's school first, so Rachel got out and took her in

Rachel was surprised how calm Ivy seemed, she'd expected her to be a lot worse, but as they got closer ivy's grip on Rachel's hand became tighter

"It's alright ivy, look doesn't the school look nice?"

Ivy did feel slightly more relaxed when she looked around, the school was so pretty, and all the children were playing happily together

Rachel signed in with reception and after a brief appointment with the head they showed Ivy to her class

By the time they'd left the school, Rachel felt a lot happier, even though Ivy was nervous she felt comfortable leaving her

Rachel then got in the car and started driving to school

"You're quiet Gaby" Amy commented

"It's because I'm not letting her have the day off school" Rachel said

"No it's not it's because my stomach genuinely hurts and you don't believe me" Gaby said tears filling her eyes

"Oh Gaby cut the melodramatics" she sighed

"you're so unfair I literally hate you"

Rachel just rolled her eyes in response to this, she was beginning to feel a bit bad though about not letting Gaby stay home as it was unusual for her to make this much of a fuss over nothing

When they got to school Gaby just ran inside

"It's always lovely to get a nice goodbye isn't it" Rachel sighed "Right come up to my office we've got some paperwork to sort out"

Rachel spent a while getting Amy her timetable and everything

"I'll show you to your first class, don't worry it's a really nice group you're with I'm sure you'll make friends in no time"

Amy felt nervous as she walked into her classroom

It didn't take long however before she got talking to a group of girls

A couple of hours passed, and Gaby was sat in English, she was in so much pain now and it was getting worse and worse

She could barely concentrate on her work and she felt all faint, she didn't even notice Mr smith speaking to her

"Gaby" he said loudly causing her to jump

"Perhaps you'd like to answer the question on the board"

Gaby didn't reply and just stared out the window

"What's up with you today"

"I really don't feel well" Gaby said before packing her stuff up and running out the classroom

Mr smith followed her out, however he saw Gaby going into the toilets

He was relieved when he saw Rachel coming down the stairs

"Rachel" he called causing her to turn around

"Hey what's up?" she asked

"It's Gaby she's just ran out of my lesson, she really didn't look very well, she's in the toilets just over there"

"Oh, okay thanks for letting me know I'll go and check on her now"

Feeling pretty worried, Rachel went into the toilets

She found Gaby by the sinks doubled over in pain

"Hey Gaby, I think we need to get you seen to don't we huh?" Rachel said, putting an arm around Gaby

"My stomach really hurts I'm not lying Mum" Gaby sobbed

"I know you're not and I'm so sorry I didn't believe you, let me go up and grab my bag then we'll go to hospital"

"Am I really ill?" Gaby said sounding scared

"I don't know love, it could be appendicitis"

Rachel rushed to grab her coat and then helped Gaby out to the car

She drove to the hospital as quickly as possible

By the time they got there Gaby had got even worse and the colour had drained from her

"Alright darling we're nearly there" Rachel soothed as she helped her walk in

Rachel checked into reception, and within about 10 minutes they were told to go through

A doctor examined Gaby and explained that he expected it was appendicitis, but a blood test and ultrasound would be needed

"Will I have to have an operation" Gaby asked

"probably, we'll operate as soon as we can. Don't worry you'll be asleep for all of it though"

After the doctor took some blood from Gaby and then her and Rachel went through to ultrasound

"Oh Gaby I am so sorry for not believing you"

"I'm scared"

"I know but the doctors know what they're doing love, you've got to trust them"

About an hour or so later Gaby's results were back and they confirmed appendicitis

Rachel felt so scared for her daughter but knew she had to stay calm

"We'll get you down to the surgical unit where your mum will have to sign some consent forms for surgery and then you'll be wheeled to theatre, the operation should only take about an hour"

Gaby felt absolutely terrified as she got ready for the operation

"It's all going to be fine love I promise" Rachel soothed "you might be a bit sore afterwards, but you'll be completely safe I promise"

A few tears escaped from Gaby's eyes, so Rachel brushed them away for her

"I'll be right with you as soon as you come around"

A few minutes later the porter came along and wheeled Gaby away

All Rachel could do was watch as her daughter went into theatre.

Please review xxxxxx


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **This is set a few weeks later**

A few weeks had passed, and Gaby was now recovering well from her operation, however Rachel had noticed she'd become increasingly quiet around the house and seemed to spend a lot more time in her bedroom that she had done before. Although Rachel had tried talking with her about it on several occasions, Gaby had insisted that she was fine and was just feeling a bit stressed out with school work so Rachel hadn't pushed it.

Amy and Ivy had both fully settled in now and were relaxed around the house, they both seemed to be enjoying school too, which Rachel was glad about, she'd been so nervous about how Ivy would settle but she seemed to be loving it at the moment.

It was a Friday afternoon and Rachel was sat at her desk catching up on some paperwork when there was a knock at her office door

"Yeah come in" she shouted, she hoped it wasn't going to be anything too important as she was rather hoping to get away on time tonight

Jasmine opened the door and came in

"Hey jasmine, how can I help?" Rachel said smiling

"I'm on a free period, I was just wondering if I could have a word about Gaby?"

"yes of course, just shut the door and come and sit down"

Jasmine sat opposite Rachel, it felt weird to be talking to her about this but Jasmine had been concerned for a few weeks now and felt it was her duty to bring it up to Rachel

"Is there some sort of trouble with Gaby?"

"Well no not exactly, though her work has been slipping quite a bit, but she just doesn't seem herself at all, she's so quiet in class which is so unusual when she's so bubbly normally and I found her crying in the toilets at lunch time"

"Really?" Rachel said feeling worried

"Yeah, I think she might have had a falling out with some of her friends too, she just seems a bit upset and lonely at the moment"

"To be honest, she hasn't been right at home either" Rachel sighed "I have tried talking with her a couple of times"

"Look I know it's not my place … in fact maybe I should just keep my mouth shut"

"No no go on, I could do with the advice to be honest"

"It's just sometimes I guess it's hard to talk to your mum about stuff, that's why the kids come to us sometimes. I suppose maybe it might be easier to talk to you as a teacher and not a Mum"

"You know what Jasmine I think you're right there" Rachel said smiling slightly "Thanks so much for letting me know, I really appreciate it"

"It's no trouble, Gaby's such a good kid"

Jasmine then left her office, leaving Rachel feeling quite worried

She decided to check Gaby's progress report, to see how her grades were doing, when she got it up she was shocked to see how poorly she'd done on the recent tests they'd had. The year 7s had been given a letter to take home to their parents about their results and it was only now that Rachel realised she hadn't had hers off Gaby yet.

Rachel had realised what Jasmine had said was true and decided to try and have a chat with Gaby at school, thinking maybe if she spoke to her as a teacher and not a Mum it might be easier for her to explain what was going on

"Bridget, could you tell me what class Gaby Mason's in?" Rachel asked

"Yes of course I'll just have a look now" Bridget said "She's with miss Haydock in 304"

"Thank you, look why don't you get an early finish, you deserve it after all that packing work you did for me yesterday, I haven't forgotten"

"Oh, are you sure?" she said smiling

"Yes of course, there's only 20 minutes left anyway, you get off home"

Bridget packed her stuff away and Rachel walked down the corridor to Steph's classroom, before going in she looked through the window and she could see Gaby sat not paying attention just staring down at her desk

She walked over and knocked on the door before walking in

"sorry to interrupt Miss Haydock, I just need a few words with Gaby"

"yes of course, maybe you can come back with your head in your French sheet and not the sky Gaby"

Everyone laughed at this and Gaby blushed before going outside with her mum

"Sorry Gaby, this shouldn't take too long, just come through to my office"

Gaby was confused but followed her Mum through, however when they got there they were surprised to see Amy and her friend with Mr Thompson

"Miss mason, I've been looking for you. These two have been acting up in my lesson all afternoon, I tried sending them to the cooler and they swore at me"

"I really hope that's not true girls" Rachel said sounding quite serious "I really hope you wouldn't be stupid enough to cheek a teacher like that"

The two girls looked at each other and giggled which caused Rachel to lose her cool

"How dare you laugh at me when I'm talking to you" she shouted "Inside my office now, believe me you won't be laughing after we've had a little chat girls"

The two of them did start to look a bit uncomfortable now

"Gaby wait out here love, I dare say it won't take two long to deal with these idiots"

Rachel then went into her office and sat behind her desk

"What do the two of you have to say for yourselves then huh?"

"Sorry miss" Jess said

"Amy?"

"I'm sorry I swore at him but I'm not sorry I acted up in his lesson, I was bored and if he didn't want people acting up he shouldn't have made such a boring lesson"

Rachel leaned In closer to Amy

"Listen to me very carefully because I'm only going to say this once, you will never disrespect a teacher like that again in my school, you ought to be ashamed of yourself" Rachel said, she wasn't shouting but she sounded scary all the same "I mean it, you ever speak like that again and you'll be suspended, and don't think the fact your my niece is going to work in your favour have you got that?"

"Yes"

"Yes what?"

"Yes, miss" Amy said deliberately emphasising the last bit

"Go to the cooler Amy, you can stay there till the end of the day"

"No"

"No?"

"I haven't done anything wrong"

"Fine I'll give you a choice you can either go to the cooler or you'll be suspended for 3 days and don't for one second think I'm going to make being at home an easy ride for you"

"This school is shit" Amy shouted before kicking the chair and leaving

Rachel sighed heavily and rolled her eyes "Jess you'll have detention every lunch time next week, and you're to apologise to Mr Thompson, is that clear?"

"Yes"

"Now get out"

Rachel had to take a minute or so to get herself together, she felt extremely let down by Amy, but she had put it to the back of her mind for now

She opened her office door

"Gaby, come through love" Rachel said

Nervously Gaby went through to her Mums office

"Let's sit on the sofa"

Gaby and Rachel went to sit down

"Am I in trouble"

"No, it's nothing like that. Gaby a few teachers have come up to me, they tell me … they tell me you haven't seemed yourself and I've had a look at your monitoring data, you seem to be struggling a bit"

"Why did you have to come and find me, why didn't you just ask me at home"

"Well because Gaby, I'm concerned about you as a teacher not just as your Mum"

"I'm sorry I probably should have just worked a bit harder for the tests" Gaby said

"Did you find them really hard?"

Gaby just shrugged her shoulders and stared at the floor

"It's not just about the tests though Gaby, they've been saying you've been really quiet in class, now that's just not like you, normally you can't be shut up" Rachel said causing a trace of a smile to appear on Gaby's face

"I guess I've just been stressed with school, its so much harder than primary"

"I know it is, but you were doing so well Gaby and I just don't believe the way you've been acting at home and at school is all because of school work" Rachel said

"I just find it hard"

Rachel paused for a moment before saying "Miss Koreshi said she found you crying in the toilets at lunch, you wanna tell me what that was about?"

"Nothing"

"Well it can't be nothing it must be something"

"I just had a falling out with Katie"

"What over?"

"Nothing, please just leave me alone Mum"

"Gaby I can't help unless you talk to me"

"There's nothing to talk about, I'm fine"

Rachel sighed but realised she couldn't exactly force Gaby to talk if she didn't want to talk

"Okay, but you know If you need anyone to talk to I'm here don't you"

"Yeah, can I go now?"

"Yep go on, try and come out quickly tonight, remember we've got that meal with grandma and grandad tonight"

"Okay" Gaby said before walking off

She didn't go into class though, she went and hid in the toilets and started sobbing. The truth was some girls in the year above Gaby had started bullying her, at first it had just been daft teasing but now it had turned nasty, to the point Gaby was terrified of coming to school. They'd started writing things all over Facebook about her and at school they wouldn't leave her alone, they'd even got some of the year 7s to join in as well. Gaby just felt so scared and alone, but she knew she couldn't tell anyone because it would just make it worse.

She was just about to leave when one of the girls came in

"Oh look who it is" Leah said laughing "Have you been crying? God you're so pathetic"

"Leave me alone"

"Sorry I can't, Jessica wants to see you outside"

"What for?"

"I don't know, come with me"

Gaby didn't dare argue and followed her outside

Leah took her over right to the back of the playground where no one could see them, Jessica was already stood there

"Oh our best girl Gaby's come to see us" She said laughing "Though I guess you can't really call her a girl, she looks more like a boy to me" Jessica said staring at Gaby's chest

"I've never done anything to you" Gaby said sobbing

"You were born, that's enough" Leah said "It's your lucky day though, we're going to make you a film star"

"What?"

"We're going to make a nice little film of you and post it for everyone to see"

"I don't want you to though"

"Tough shit, I want to, so we will" Jessica said "Now get down on your knees, Leah start filming"

Gaby got down on her knees, shaking with fear

"Eat the grass"

"No" Gaby cried "I can't"

"Do it" Leah said giving her a kick

"No"

"I said do it" Leah said sounding quite threatening

Gaby didn't dare argue and put the grass in her mouth

"Say moo like a cow would" Leah said causing Jessica to giggle

Gaby did it, praying this would all stop soon

"Can you stop now"

"One moment" Jessica said before winking at Leah

Leah then went over and yanked Gaby's skirt and tights down

"Stop it please" Gaby said "Please don't show anyone that"

"We'll show who we want" Jessica said "Though I guess we should show our thanks"

Jessica then went over and kicked Gaby hard in the stomach causing her to double over in pain, her stomach was still particularly sensitive from when she'd had her operation

"You're fat, you're ugly and pathetic" Leah said "And if you dare tell your Mum about this, you'll be dead"

The two of them then walked off, leaving Gaby crying on the ground

She heard the bell go for the end of school, however waited at the back of the playground for about 15 minutes until most people had left

She knew her Mum would be looking for her, so got her stuff together and went inside. Her stomach was really hurting from where Jessica had kicked her

She ran upstairs to her Mums office

"Gaby I've been looking everywhere for you, I thought I told you to go back to your class, Miss Haydock said you never turned up" Rachel said

Gaby couldn't help herself from bursting into a fresh flood of tears

Rachel immediately put down her paperwork and went over to her

"Gaby what's wrong, what's happened hmm?" She asked, worry evident in her voice "Come on love, come and sit down"

Gaby sat on the sofa, she knew she couldn't tell her mum what was wrong, but it was just nice to feel secure and safe in here

"I'm going to get you something to drink, hot chocolate or coffee?" Rachel asked, she knew that she was going to be late for Ivy, however right now she needed to concentrate on Gaby, she decided to send her Mum a text asking her to pick Ivy up, since they should have arrived at her house by now. Although Rachel's mum wasn't close to her brother, she'd always tried to keep in touch with Ivy and Amy as much as possible, so the girls felt quite comfortable around her

"Can I have a hot chocolate please?"

"Of course, I'll make one for myself as well"

"Mum don't you need to go and get Amy out the cooler"

"Nope she can stew in there for a bit longer, I dare say it won't do her any harm"

"What about Ivy?"

"Grandma's picking her up"

Rachel made the drinks and brought one over to Gaby

"Thanks Mum"

"That's alright" Rachel said "Now are you going to tell me what's upset you so much"

Gaby thought for a moment before saying "I just don't feel well, I've got a really bad stomach, that's why I couldn't go back to class"

Rachel frowned slightly, not really believing her

"Well that must have come on very suddenly, you seemed aright when you let my office"

"I know it just really started to hurt when I went back to class"

"Does it hurt where you had your operation?"

"No it's just kind of everywhere, I'm sure it'll be fine soon"

"Darling are you sure that's the only thing that's bothering you, you can tell me anything you know, no matter how shocking you think it is, I'm not going to get angry I promise"

For a moment, Gaby thought about telling her Mum everything, she really wanted to but then she remembered what Jessica had said to her

"I'm fine I just feel ill"

"Okay, well before we go out maybe you should have a little lie down or something hmm?"

"Yeah I probably should"

Rachel wasn't entirely convinced and still felt worried about Gaby

They finished their hot chocolate and then Rachel decided she should probably get Amy

"Right why don't you go and wait in the car, here I'll give you my keys, I shouldn't be too long"

Gaby went off and waited inside Rachel's car, about 10 minutes later Amy and Rachel came out of school, both still looking pretty annoyed at one another

"It's so unfair, no other teacher would give me 2 weeks detention and you only gave Jess one week and she was the one who swore at him"

"Yes but you were the one who was cheeky in my office weren't you. I'm not backing down Amy so you can either accept it or throw a massive sulk all weekend, quite frankly I don't care which you choose"

"And you've grounded me for a week, which is so unfair because you always say that you treat me no differently, but you couldn't ground Jess could you?"

"No and I'm not grounding you as a teacher I'm grounding you as your guardian"

"you just get to know everything about me and I hate it"

"I rang jess's parents to let them know what happened" Rachel pointed out

They continued to argue for a bit longer until eventually things started to settle down a bit

When they got home, Ivy ran up to Rachel and gave her a hug

"Hey love how you doing"

"Good, Molly in my class asked if I could go and play around her house tomorrow, but she said that her mum said that I've got to ask you first"

"Well its fine by me love, did her mum give me a number to call to grandma and grandad"

"Yeah they've got it"

"Okay well I'll give her a call later"

Rachel then went over and gave her Mum and Dad a hug, she hadn't seen them in a couple of weeks, so she was glad they were going to be staying for the weekend

She got them some coffee and they stayed downstairs chatting for a bit, however then they realised they had to get ready

"I've made up the spare room on the second floor, I just though because it's got an en-suite you'd feel more comfortable there"

"yes that'll be perfect, thanks for all the effort you've gone to Rachel"

"It's no trouble at all"

Gaby was in her room, she was staring at herself in her mirror. What the girls had said to her earlier about being fat and ugly kept going around her head. She took her school uniform off and stared at her body in the mirror, she squinted at herself, maybe it was true, her chest was basically non-existent, and her stomach did seem to pop out a bit, she looked at her legs, they seemed pretty normal but when she looked closer she thought maybe they did look pretty wide after all. She began to cry, it was all true, she did look like a boy and she was fat.

Suddenly Gaby's door opened and Rachel walked in

Rachel stopped for a moment when she saw Gaby in her underwear, staring at herself in the mirror

"Gaby what are you doing love"

"Go away" Gaby screamed "You can't just come in my room, get out"

Rachel was shocked at how hysterical Gaby was getting

"You know what Gaby no, I'm not going to go away" she said firmly before closing the door behind me

"I don't want you in here" she sobbed as she quickly put her vest top and leggings on

"I know you don't but I've just seen you staring at yourself in the mirror and crying, now why would a beautiful girl like you be doing that huh?"

"I'm not beautiful, I'm fat" Gaby blurted out

"What?" Rachel said sounding really worried "Gaby you couldn't be any further away from being fat, you've got a lovely slim figure"

"No I haven't, I haven't even got a figure, I may as well be a boy"

Rachel sighed and sat down on the bed "Love come and sit down a minute"

Reluctantly Gaby went and sat next to Rachel

"Gaby you're 11 years old, you're no where near a woman yet and neither are any of the other girls in your year no matter how much they stuff their bras"

Gaby couldn't help but laugh a tiny bit at that

"But I haven't developed at all, and my thighs are huge"

Rachel shook her head in disbelief "Love has someone at school said something?"

"No" Gaby said a little too suddenly

"You can tell me if they have you know"

"They haven't"

"So where on earth have you got the idea from that you're fat then?"

"I don't know, I guess I just kind of saw when I looked in the mirror"

"Well you obviously need to look again, don't you? Because you are an absolutely stunning girl and anyone who says any different is telling you a great big lie"

Gaby gave a weak smile

"Thanks Mum"

"So no more talking nonsense okay?"

"Okay"

"Good, now you better start getting ready, hadn't you?"

Rachel then left, as soon as she'd gone Gaby turned to look at herself in the mirror again, she thought maybe she could make herself look different, maybe if she wore makeup like the older girls did she'd look like them and they would stop bullying her

Gaby didn't own that much makeup though and she didn't really know how to apply it, however she thought maybe Amy could help her out

She went and knocked on Amy's door

"Yeah"

Gaby walked in and found Amy getting changed, she wished she could look more like her cousin

"Hey Gaby"

"Amy will you do my makeup, just like how you do yours?"

Amy smiled, she loved making people over

"Sure, come and sit down, though I won't do it exactly like mine you're lucky because you've got that lovely blonde hair, you wouldn't suit really dark makeup"

Gaby sat down on the chair and Amy got some of her makeup out

"Amy do you think I'm fat?"

"What? Are you kidding, of course not. Who's said that to you?"

"No one"

"Someone's been giving you a hard time and I know it" Amy said

"It's just some girls in the year above, but its fine I know they don't mean it"

"Which girls? I'll sort them out for you" Amy said

"No, it's not like that, it'll be fine honestly"

"Have you told your Mum about them?"

"No" Gaby said "It'll make it worse, it's fine really, I just need to stand up to them a bit"

"Well if anyone does start giving you any grief you come and let me know about it"

"I will" Gaby said smiling

It made Gaby feel quite relaxed being in here with Amy, although a lot of people found Amy intimidating, she really was a lovely girl and would always stick up for people if she thought someone was bullying them

Rachel was just walking past Amy's room and was about to come in and put her washing on the bed for her, when she heard Gaby's voice

"Amy can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"How old were you when you started your period?"

"Erm 10 I think"

"10? But I'm 11 does that mean I should have started mine by now"

"I thought you said you had started yours?" Amy said confused

"Oh.. well I just said that because I didn't want you to think I was a baby"

Amy laughed slightly "Of course I wouldn't have done, I was really early starting mine, so of course you're not abnormal or anything"

Rachel couldn't help but be concerned when she overheard this conversation, she couldn't understand why Gaby wanted to grow up all of a sudden. However, Rachel knew that it probably wouldn't be the best idea to say anything as she didn't want to embarrass Gaby so she decided just to leave it

She waited a moment and then knocked on the door

Amy shouted for her to come in so Rachel opened the door

"Amy's doing my makeup Mum"

"Well that's very nice of her isn't it, your eye makeup looks lovely" Rachel said

"Thanks"

"Don't go getting any ideas though young lady, if you ever turn up to school with that much on I'd hunt you down with a wet wipe"

Gaby smiled, she couldn't wait to see what she looked like with all the makeup on

After about half an hour Amy was finished

Gaby turned to look at herself in the mirror and smiled, she looked really grown up, maybe if she looked like this every day people wouldn't pick on her as much she thought

"You look stunning" Amy said smiling

"Thanks so much Amy" Gaby said giving her a hug

About 10 minutes later they were all ready to go so they got in Rachel's car and set off

"Rachel can I go out tomorrow?" Amy asked

"Out where?" She said suspiciously

"To my friend's party"

"Which friend?"

"Sam in year 12"

"No Amy, I'm sorry you're not going to a sixth formers party. You know what happened last time"

"That was ages ago"

"Yes and I still haven't forgotten about it, I'm sorry there's just no way I'm going to let you go"

"You're so unfair" Amy said "Everyone else Is allowed to go except for me"

"Yeah well, I'm obviously completely unreasonable, then aren't I? But my answers still no"

"You're not my Mum" Amy said "If I want to go I'll go"

"Amy we'll talk about this later" Rachel sighed, she wanted to have a nice evening with the girls and her parents, so she didn't want Amy to ruin it

It took them about 20 minutes to get there, Rachel was impressed when she saw it, it really did look very nice

They all went inside and got their table

It was really nice for them to all be together, Gaby seemed a lot happier too which Rachel was glad about

They were just about to order some food, when Rachel looked up and saw that one of her students, Josie March coming in with her family

Gaby's heart sank when she saw her coming over, she was another one of the girls bullying her, she stared at the ground praying she wouldn't see her

Rachel smiled when she saw her and quickly said hello

As she was walking past Josie smiled sweetly at Gaby, however this just made her feel even more nervous than before

They then ordered their food and started chatting again, however Gaby had suddenly gone all quiet again

"I'm just going to the toilet" Gaby said before going off

Unfortunately, Josie had seen her go in, so followed her inside

Gaby came out the cubicle and got the shock of her life when Josie was there

"Hi Gaby, how are you?"

"Fine" Gaby mumbled trying to push past her, however Josie stopped her

"Not so fast" Josie said "We haven't said hello yet"

"Hello"

"You're very tarted up tonight" Josie said laughing "Who's it for eh?"

"No one"

"I never knew Gaby Mason was actually a slag, who's have guessed it"

"I'm not a slag"

"Really. I'm going to let everyone at school know how I saw you with Zach Jones today, how you were getting off behind the bike sheds"

"But you didn't see me do that"

"People will believe whatever I tell them, though won't they?"

"Why do you hate me so much" Gaby cried

Josie just laughed

"Here lets get another picture, you must want people to see how much of a slag you look"

Josie got her phone out and took a picture, however just as she was putting her phone away Rachel walked in

"Hey Gaby we were wondering where you'd got to" Rachel said and then she noticed Gaby's face "Have you been crying?"

"I'm fine" Gaby said before running back to the table

It was only then that Rachel realised Josie was there

"I've been trying to tell her it doesn't matter miss, but she just keeps getting upset"

"That what doesn't matter?" Rachel asked

"Oh sorry I thought you would have known already, I don't want to drop Gaby in it or anything, we're quite good friends"

"Josie look I'm worried about Gaby so if you know something I want you to tell me now" Rachel said

"Well she went mental in Budgens's class today at us all, told us all to f off and everything, we were only teasing her about Zach Jones"

"Zach?"

"Well she skipped form today, so she could get with him behind the bike sheds, we didn't mean to make her upset"

"What? Zach Jones, he's in year 9 isn't he" Rachel said shocked

"I think they were only kissing but…"

"But what?"

"Well April said that Gaby told her she sent pictures to him"

"Josie are you sure?"

"Well I'm sure about her getting with him, I saw it with my own eyes and so did a load of other people, but I don't know if she sent pictures, it might just be a rumour"

Rachel was so shocked by this, she couldn't believe it of Gaby but it would explain her behaviour, she wanted to confront her about it immediately but knew it wasn't the best time and it would have to wait till they got home

"Right, well thanks for letting me know I guess. I'll see you on Monday Josie"

"Bye Miss, I haven't got Gaby into trouble have I? We were all worried about her"

"Well I'm worried about her to" Rachel said before going back to their table

As soon as she sat down Gaby could tell something was wrong and started panicking about what Josie might have said

Rachel had seemed in such a good mood before, however now she was acting weirdly and not really talking that much

"What's wrong Mum" Gaby asked nervously

"We'll talk about it later Gaby, me and you need to have pretty serious discussion I think"

The rest of the meal felt a little bit awkward however Amy was still chatting away to her Grandparent. All Rachel wanted to do was get home, so she could confront Gaby.

Eventually it was time to pay the bill. Rachel's Dad insisted on treating everyone despite Rachel's protests.

Rachel's Mum Joan, could tell something was wrong with her daughter and wanted to find out what it was

"Kids why don't you go in Grandad's car on the way home, you always love going in his jeep don't you Ivy? I'll drive back with your Mum Gaby?"

Rachel sighed, knowing it was just a ploy to get her on her own, but the girls seemed happy about going back with their grandad, so she couldn't really say anything.

Joan and Rachel went back to the car and put their seat belts on

"What's up Rach? I can tell somethings happened, you went really quiet after you went to find Gaby"

Rachel sighed before saying "I'm worried about Gaby Mum. She's been acting so weirdly over the last few days and Josie, the girl who goes to my school who I said hello to, well she just told me then that Gaby had got with some older boy behind the bike sheds today when she should have been in class and she's been… she's been sending him pictures of herself"

"Pictures?"

"It's what they do these days, they send pictures of themselves without any ..or at least very few clothes on"

"What? That doesn't sound like Gaby"

"I know but it does kind of figure I suppose" Rachel sighed "I'm just so worried, she's far too young for all that"

"I don't know I seem to remember tearing my hair out over you and your boyfriends when you weren't that much older that Gaby is now"

Rachel couldn't help but smile at this, she knew her Mum was right, and she hadn't exactly been a model child during her teenage years

"So what do you think I should do Mum? I feel so angry"

"Look you need to talk about it with her, me and your Dad will make ourselves scarce, we'll take Amy and Ivy out to choose a film for tonight or something and you can have a talk with Gaby"

Rachel smiled at her Mum, they had a great relationship now and Rachel was glad of the support

"Thanks Mum"

They chatted a bit more as Rachel drove home and when pulled up outside Rachel's house at about the same time as John

"Amy, Ivy why don't we go for a walk to the shop, we can get some snacks and pick a film to watch tonight"

"That sounds good" Ivy said

The four of them walked off leaving Rachel and Gaby alone

"Come inside Gaby"

Nervously Gaby followed Rachel inside and they took their shoes off

"Let's go though to the back room we can talk in there"

They went through and Rachel sat down on the sofa, indicating for Gaby to do the same.

Rachel turned to face Gaby

"Gaby I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me, I know it'll be difficult, but I just need to know"

Fear flooded through Gaby, she knew Josie must have told her Mum something and whatever it was she didn't sound very happy about it at all

"What is it Mum?"

"I spoke to Josie earlier, she told me that you were with Zach Jones today when you should have been in class"

Gaby couldn't believe this, she didn't know what to do because if she told her Mum the truth that she hadn't been with or even spoken to Zach today then her Mum would confront Josie about it on Monday and that would make everything even worse.

"Gaby is that true?" Rachel asked hoping somehow Josie had got the wrong end of the stick

Gaby didn't say anything, just stared at the ground and nodded

"What were you doing with him?"

"Nothing"

"Well that's not what Josie tell me, no she tells me you were kissing" Rachel said sounding pretty stern now

"Yeah but that's it"

"What and that isn't enough is it? You were sneaking out of class to see some year 9 boy, what sort of girl does that Gaby? You've never done anything like that before"

"I'm sorry"

"Well you know what it's not good enough I'm afraid. Gaby, I don't know what to do with you, why would you do something like that?"

Gaby just shrugged her shoulders "I don't know"

"Well you better start thinking Gaby because I'm not happy, I'm not happy at all. You've got more sense than to behave like that"

"I won't do it again I promise"

"Too right you won't. I just don't understand you Gaby. You're not the type of girl to be kissing some random boy, you're far too young to be behaving like that"

"I'm sorry" Gaby said again, tears filling her eyes

"That's not the only thing she told me" Rachel said

Gaby began to wonder what on earth Josie could have said about her beside from this

"What else did she say?"

"That you've been sending pictures to Zach"

"Mum I haven't I swear" Gaby said crying

"Well Josie did say it was only a rumour and there was a time that I would have taken your word for it that it is just a rumour, but I clearly can't trust you at the moment can I. So I need you to pass me your phone"

"Why?"

"Because unfortunately Gaby I just don't trust you and I need to look through it"

Gaby knew if she gave her Mum her phone then she'd see all the messages the girls had been sending her and it would make it so much worse

"No"

Rachel raised her eyebrows at this

"Got something to hide?"

"No, I just don't want you going through there its private"

"No Gaby, your 11 years old and if I'm worried about your safety then I've got act now pass me your phone"

"Mum there's nothing on there"

"Well I don't know that do I, hand it over Gaby"

Gaby didn't know what to do, she couldn't stand the thought of her Mum thinking what Josie had said was true but equally she couldn't let her see all the messages

"I can't"

"If you've got nothing to hide then you wouldn't mind"

"I'm not handing it over"

"Gaby did you send Zach a picture of yourself?"

"No" She screamed through tears

"Then why won't you hand over the phone"

"Because I've got private stuff on there" Gaby cried

"Like what Gaby, what have you got on there that you don't want me to see"

"Conversations between my friends and stuff"

"Well I can't possibly think what you can be talking about that's so awfully private, but I don't want to look at your messages to your friends, I want to see the pictures you have on there and the messages to Zach"

"Fine, but don't look at anything else"

Gaby handed her phone over to her Mum and Rachel took it off her

She'd never been through Gaby's phone before however she really didn't feel like she had a choice

She started scrolling through Gaby's pictures and was immensely relieved to see she didn't have anything on there except some pictures of her friends and other typical stuff

She then went into Gaby's contacts but was surprised to see Zach wasn't even on there

"Gaby where's Zach's number" Rachel asked

"I don't have it, I don't even talk to him over the phone"

"Well if you've been kissing each other when you should be in class, surely you must have his number? Surely you talk to one another"

"it's not like that"

"So what made you decide to do it then?"

"I told you I don't know"

"Well I don't need to tell you how disappointed I am"

"Can I have my phone back now"

"No, I'm going to keep it for the weekend. And can you bring your Ipad down too please"

"But why? There was nothing on there"

"Because I'm worried about you Gaby and I'm still not one bit happy about today"

"Can I turn it off then, I don't want you seeing my friends messages to me"

"You know what maybe I should see what your friends are talking about, because It must be pretty bad if your so worried about me seeing it"

"No don't please" Gaby begged

Rachel sighed but switched the phone off all the same

"Go and get the Ipad please, you can keep your computer to do school work on but other than that you don't use it"

"Fine"

Gaby went upstairs and brought her Ipad down

"Thank you"

"Can I go now?"

"Yep"

Gaby then ran upstairs and closed her door behind her. She instantly began to sob, she couldn't believe what Josie had told her Mum and didn't know how all of this was going to end.

She logged onto her computer straight away and went onto facebook. She couldn't believe how many notifications she had and saw that Jessica really had posted the video she'd taken of her earlier.

Suddenly Gaby had to run to the toilet to be sick. She'd never felt more upset in her life and couldn't believe that a few weeks ago she'd felt so happy.

She stayed in the toilet for a while, as she could hear that the rest of them were back and didn't want to face them.

However, after about 15 minutes she heard a knock on the door

"Gaby what are you doing, you've been in there ages?" Rachel shouted through

"I'm just going to have a bath"

"Okay, don't use all the hot water"

Gaby ran herself a bath and stayed in the bath for about half an hour, tears running freely down her face

Eventually she got out and wrapped a towel around herself before going into her bedroom and getting into some pyjamas

A little while later she heard a knock on the door, she hoped it wasn't Rachel because she really wasn't in the mood for another lecture

"yeah"

To her surprise Amy walked in and sat down on the bed next to her

"Rachel sent me up, she wants to know if you want to watch a film with us"

"No, I'm okay thanks"

"What's up Gaby" Amy asked gently "Are you in trouble or something? You can tell me, I won't tell your Mum I promise"

"No I'm okay"

"You know you can always talk to me if you feel upset, I can actually be quite a good listener and I would never judge you, not for anything. I'm sure I've done far worse"

"It's nothing honestly"

"Well you know where I am, if ever you do need someone to talk to"

"Thanks Amy"

Amy smiled before leaving Gaby to it

It was about midnight and Gaby still hadn't slept, she kept crying and checking her laptop, looking at all the comments people had left

She'd heard everyone else go to bed about half an hour ago, although she knew her Mum wasn't asleep because she'd gone in the bath

She didn't want to tell her what was wrong, but she hated feeling so low

Rachel had just got out the bath and had changed into her pyjamas when she decided to go and check if Gaby had got off to sleep, she'd felt a bit bad about not coming to sort things out with her earlier

She gently eased open her daughter's bedroom door and was surprised to find her with her laptop on

"Gaby its midnight what are you still doing awake and I think I remember saying you could only use that for school work" Rachel said however she didn't sound too cross

"Sorry" Gaby mumbled before putting it away

Rachel went and crouched down beside her bed

"I'm sorry if you thought I was being too harsh on you earlier"

"It's fine, I know I shouldn't have done it"

Rachel smiled slightly before tucking a piece of Gaby's hair behind her ear

"Gaby is there something going on with you that I don't know about"

"No"

"Because you can tell me anything"

"There's nothing"

"Okay, I just wanted to check" Rachel said "Come on, it really is time for sleep"

"Mum, can I sleep in your bed tonight?" Gaby asked

"Yeah, come on" Rachel said

The two of them went into Rachel's bedroom and got into her large double bed. Rachel then flicked the light off and put her arms around Gaby

For the first time today, Gaby felt safe and secure and it didn't take her long to drift off to sleep

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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was about 5 o'clock on the Monday morning when Gaby woke up. Yet again she woke up dripping in sweat, she'd had a horrible dream about the girls who were bullying her, she felt terrified and was properly hyperventilating. It took her about 5 minutes to calm herself down, however she started to panic again when she realised she had to go into school today.

She had actually woken up with quite a bad stomach ache and thought maybe she could play on that for a bit, she hoped it would work because she really couldn't face going in to school today, she knew the bullying would be worse than ever after they'd put that video on of her.

Gaby thought that it might be more convincing if she woke her Mum up to tell her now as then it would look like the stomach ache had woken her up it was so bad.

She decided to get up and walk across to her Mums room

Slowly she crept inside, and she saw her Mum fast asleep in bed, still snoring gently. Gaby did feel a little bit mean waking her up, however she knew that it was her best bet of getting out of school, so she went over and gently tapped Rachel awake

Rachel jumped when she felt someone tapping her and then slowly stirred.

"Gaby what are you doing out of bed?" she asked still half asleep

"I've got a really bad stomach ache" Gaby explained

"okay, try and go back to sleep it's still night time" Rachel mumbled, clearly not listening to her at all

Gaby shook her again to stop her falling back to sleep causing Rachel to wake up properly

"No mum, it's really bad"

Rachel sighed before opening her eyes and sitting up

"When did it start?"

"I've been awake for about an hour with it"

"okay, I'll get you some paracetamol see if that helps huh"

Rachel dragged herself out of bed and went over to her bathroom cupboard and found Gaby some paracetamol

"There you go"

Gaby swallowed them down quickly

"Reckon you can go back to sleep for an hour or so?"

"Yeah I guess so" Gaby said "Do I have to go to school today?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, now realising this stomach ache probably had more to do with trying to get out of school as opposed to actually being ill

"Yes Gaby, I know you're probably scared what people will think after Friday, which by the way you can do a detention for this break, but you've got to face it sometime haven't you?"

"I am ill, remember last time when you thought I was lying and then I was in hospital a few hours later"

"Gaby that was different and I'm sorry I just don't believe you"

"Well it'll be your fault if I end up needing surgery again like last time"

"somehow I don't think it'll come to that Gaby"

"fine don't believe me then" Gaby said with tears in her eyes as she stormed back to her bedroom

Rachel sighed heavily, she really didn't know what to do with Gaby at the moment, all weekend she'd been extremely irritable and emotional, and she just couldn't figure out why

After being woken up, Rachel found it hard to get back to sleep, she kept tossing and turning but couldn't get comfortable

Her alarm went off at about 6.30 s0 she got out of bed and went in the shower before going to wake the girls up

By the time they got in the car, Rachel was feeling exhausted already. Gaby had complained so much about having to go to school, however Rachel hadn't backed down and had forced her to go in.

They dropped Ivy off before heading to school

Gaby slammed the car door shut and then ran inside

"Honestly what am I going to do with that girl" Rachel sighed

"Do you reckon she is ill rach?" Amy asked

"No, she's not, she's trying to get out of school"

"Do you want me to keep an eye on her today, check there's nothing going on"

"You know what Amy it'd be really great if you could, there's definitely something not right, I just don't know what"

Amy agreed to keep an eye on her and then walked off into school

As soon as she got in Gaby could feel people laughing at her

Suddenly Jessica and Leah cornered her

"What you having for lunch Gaby? There's plenty of grass available"

"I always have thought she was a bit of a cow"

"Nah I'd say more pig myself"

"She's definitely as fat as one"

"Yeah she's like huge"

"And ugly to"

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone so disgusting"

Gaby couldn't stand it any longer and ran into the girl's toilets, she sobbed hysterically and wished she could just run away and never come back here

She stared at herself in the mirror and felt disgusted, every word they said was true. She was fat, ugly and disgusting

She punched the wall hard, trying to let her anger out. It hurt quite a lot as she did, but it somehow seemed to help so she did it again

A few minutes later she heard the bell go, she felt physically sick as she walked to class

As soon as she got in, everyone started staring at her, whispering and laughing with each other

Gaby tried her best not to cry knowing it would only make it worse

Eventually registration ended, and it was time for French, as they were walking out the name calling started again

"oink oink" one of the boys said as he passed Gaby causing everyone to laugh

"I wouldn't have thought grass would have filled you up"

"Yeah not a big girl like you"

"she'd even uglier when she puts makeup on, did you see the picture Josie put up at the weekend"

"She looked like such a slag"

"I wonder what your precious Mum thought of it"

"I bet she wishes she'd never given birth to you"

"You'd be embarrassed to give birth to something so ugly"

Gaby couldn't help but cry now, it continued all the way to French

Steph saw Gaby come in and instantly felt worried about her

"Gaby what's the matter?" she asked sounding concerned

"I don't feel that well, I'll be fine"

"Do you want to go up to your Mums office? Maybe you should go home if you're that unwell"

"I'll be fine"

Gaby then found her desk and sat down quickly

Her stomach felt really sore now and she felt a bit sick

They'd been in French for about half an hour and all through the lesson Gaby could hear people whispering about her, the boy behind her kept kicking her chair. Her stomach ache was getting worse and she was beginning to feel really uncomfortable

About 5 minutes past and Gaby was actually feeling pretty ill now, she felt a bit dizzy too

She put her hand in the air

"Yes Gaby what is it?"

"Please can I go to the toilet Miss?"

"Yes of course"

Gaby walked up to the front and people instantly started laughing, however this didn't really surprise her at all

She saw someone take a picture and before long the whole class were in hysterics

She ran out the room and into the toilet, she was in tears by this point

It was only when she went to the toilet that she realised what they'd all been laughing at. She saw that she must have started her period and it had leaked all onto the back of her skirt

Gaby didn't know what to do, she felt so scared and embarrassed and couldn't believe everyone had seen. She stayed in there for a good 5 minutes before eventually coming out, she went out the toilets and started running however she bumped straight into Jessica

"Oh my god, look who it is. Is it true?" she aske before turning her around violently and looking at the back of her skirt

Gaby started shaking she felt so scared and upset

Jessica started laughing hysterically and took some more pictures on her phone, "These are going to be great on the site"

"Don't post it" Gaby sobbed "You've already got the video of me"

"Sorry no can do, your just so popular you see. Everyone loves it" Jessica said "You're absolutely vile, who just lets their period go all over them"

"I didn't know I had it" Gaby cried

"Well like I said, I'm sure it'll be a very popular post"

Jessica then ran off

Gaby felt like she was going to faint she felt that upset, she wished she could just disappear as she couldn't face it anymore.

She started running, however just as she did Rachel came down one of the corridors

As soon as she saw Gaby she ran straight over to her

"Gaby" Rachel said, holding an arm out so Gaby would stop running

She crouched down slightly so she was on Gaby's level, but Gaby continued to sob hysterically

"Gaby look at me love" she said

Gaby couldn't help herself from throwing her arms around her Mum as she continued to cry

Despite the fact they were in the middle of the school corridor Rachel hugged her tightly and tried to soothe her a bit

"Shh its okay, look it's all fine I promise. Whatever it is we're going to sort it"

Gaby continued to cry into her Mum and after a minute Rachel got her up

"Mum I started my periods and it's gone on the back of my skirt" Gaby cried turning around so Rachel could see, barely able to breath from crying so much

"Okay" Rachel said very calmly "Well let's wrap my cardigan around you and go up to my office, yeah?"

Gaby nodded her head, so Rachel took her cardigan off and tied it around Gaby's waist

"There we go, come on lets go upstairs"

Rachel put her arm around Gaby and started leading her upstairs

As they were walking they passed Leah

"Is everything okay with Gaby Miss?" She asked sounding fake concerned

"Yep she's going to be fine, get to your lesson please Leah" Rachel said, knowing Gaby would hate a fuss being made

When they got to Rachel's office, Steph was up there too, she was worried when Leah hadn't come back from the toilet and wanted to check she was just in her Mum's office

"Gaby love, just go and wait through there, I'll be with you in two seconds"

Gaby then went through to her Mum's office and sat on the sofa, feeling faint from crying so much

"Rachel is Gaby okay, I was really worried about her."

"I don't really know Steph, I found her in the middle of the corridor. She was completely hysterical when I found her. What exactly happened in her French lesson?"

"Well she said she needed to go to the toilet and when she got up all the kids started laughing, I think she must have started her period, which I know must have been awful, but I really think there's something more to it than that because she was crying when she came in to my lesson"

"Did she say why?"

"She said it was because she was poorly, I asked if she wanted to go and see you but she said she was fine"

"Okay" Rachel said "Thanks for coming to check on her, if you see Mr Mead can you tell him I'm going to go home with Gaby but I'll be back around lunch time"

"Yeah sure, I hope Gaby's okay. She's such a lovely girl but there's been something wrong recently"

"I know and I'm going to find out what" Rachel said "Thanks again Steph"

Rachel smiled at her before going into her office

Gaby was still crying but had calmed down a little bit now she was away from everyone

"Mum everyone saw and …" Gaby started saying however she couldn't finish her sentence because she was crying so much

"Gaby, I know and its going to be okay I promise you" Rachel said, matter-of-factly

Rachel got her some water and some tissues

"Here Gaby have some sips of that, I think it'll help."

Gaby put the water to her lips and Rachel dabbed at her eyes

She then sat down next to her

"Gaby, we don't have to talk about what happened, not if you don't want to. I know how embarrassing it must have been"

"I can't believe everyone saw"

"Yeah, they did, but you know what Gaby they're going to get over it, give it a few days and it'll all be forgotten. But I know starting your period is a big enough deal as it is without everyone knowing about it"

"I just didn't expect it to happen"

"I know you didn't Gaby, that'll be why you had a stomach ache this morning" Rachel said, "But the thing is love, I think there's more to it than just this isn't there huh?"

"No"

"Miss Haydock said you were crying before the lesson started"

"I just felt unwell"

Rachel sighed, however she knew it wasn't the right time to push Gaby as she'd had a traumatic enough day as it was anyway

"Okay" Rachel said quietly

"Do I have to go back to class?" Gaby said fearfully

"No, lets go and get you home yeah? I can stay with you for about an hour or so, but do you reckon you'll be okay spending the afternoon on your own? I can call Grandma round if you'd rather"

"No it's okay, I'll be fine" Gaby said "Mum do you have any pads or anything" She asked her cheeks flushing slightly

"I don't have any on me, but I know there's some down in the medical room" Rachel said "You wait here, I'll nip and get some for you"

As soon as Rachel left Gaby started to get all upset again, she dreaded to think what Jessica had posted about her, the thought of it all was making her feel sick

Rachel came back a few minutes later

"There you go love, do you know how to put it on, it just sticks to your knickers"

"Yeah I know" Gaby said

"You go and sort yourself out then I'll wait in here"

Gaby went to the toilet

Even on the short route there people were still calling at her and laughing

She quickly went inside the toilet and sorted herself out before going back to her Mums office

"Come on then Mrs, let's go home" Rachel said

The two of them went out and went into Rachel's car

As soon as Gaby got in she started to feel overwhelmingly tired and closed her eyes. Within about a minute she'd fallen asleep

Rachel smiled to herself slightly, however she still felt extremely worried about Gaby

When they pulled up at home Gaby stirred

"Hey are you feeling a bit tired?" Rachel asked

"Yeah I feel so sleepy"

"How about I run you a bath when you get in and then you can have a relax and freshen up a bit"

"Yeah that'd be nice"

"How's the stomach is it still as sore?" Rachel asked as she unlocked the door

"It's still quite bad"

"You can have some more paracetamol, I'll go and get you some"

Rachel went and got Gaby some and then started running her bath

As Rachel was doing it Gaby went onto her bed, she felt like she was in a trance after everything that had happened

A few minutes later Rachel came through to her bedroom

"Baths ready love" she said smiling slightly "I've put some clothes in there for when you get out and I got you a pack of pads from out my bathroom cupboard, just keep them in your room and let me know if you need any more okay?"

"Thanks Mum"

Gaby got up and went into the bathroom. It felt nice to get into the bath and relax for a bit and just forget it all for a few minutes

She stayed in there for quite a while before deciding to get out and get changed

Once she'd sorted herself out she went downstairs and found her Mum in the kitchen

She went over and put her arms around her

"Mum thanks for being so nice to me"

"Hey its what I'm here for" she said "Do you feel a bit better after your bath huh?"

"Yeah"

"I'm going to have to go back to school in a minute love, but I'll get home as quick as I can after school. Ivy's going to a friend's house to play so I don't need to pick her up" Rachel said, "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?"

"yeah I'll be fine"

"Okay well anything you need you just give me a call"

"You've got my phone"

"Oh yeah I forgot, I'll go and get it for you now" Rachel said, quickly going in her bag to get it "There you go, send your friends a text let them know you're okay, I'm sure they'll be worried about you"

Rachel then put her coat on and gave Gaby a quick kiss goodbye before going off back to school

Almost as soon as she'd gone Gaby started sobbing again, all the things they'd said to her were going over and over in her mind

She went upstairs with her phone and with shaking hands turned it on

Almost as soon as she did messages started flooding through

They were saying how disgusting she was. Someone had started a group chat and all of them were just sending random pictures of her in it and saying how ugly she was and how huge she looked

Then she noticed someone had sent a link to something. She couldn't help but click on it but when she did she started having a full-on panic attack

Jessica had made a hate page about her and it was full of pictures of her, including the one she'd taken today of her skirt

Gaby couldn't catch her breath she was crying so much, she scrolled through all of the comments. They were all talking about how much they hated her, one of them even said she should just go and kill herself

Gaby gasped as she sobbed, she stumbled to the bathroom and started to throw up, she couldn't seem to think straight at all

She stood up and saw herself in the mirror, yet again all the words were going through her mind, they were ringing louder and louder

She collapsed to the floor putting her hands to her ears trying to make it all stop. She didn't know what to do, she'd never felt more alone or scared in her life and she just wanted it to end. Right now, she didn't care how.

One of the comments kept whizzing around her mind, the one about her being better off dead, was it true? She thought, she must be a pretty disgusting person for everyone to hate her so much, and right now she really would rather not be here at all than to have to spend another day at school. Gaby just didn't know what to do, or what option she had left.

It was lunch time at school and Amy was walking out of her lesson when she heard some girls laughing and though she heard Gaby's name, so she walked up to them

"Oi what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing"

Amy glanced at their phone and noticed a picture of Gaby on there, without warning she grabbed the phone off one of the girls and couldn't believe what she saw. On the phone, was the hate site Jessica had set up, Amy saw all the pictures that had been posted of Gaby and read all the comments. She felt sick as she read through it all and couldn't believe what Gaby had been going through all on her own, all her behaviour suddenly made sense.

"You sick little pair of shits" Amy said to them both "Who made this?"

"It wasn't us"

"Who was it?" Amy screamed

"Jessica Jameson" one of them answered

"Send me the link" she demanded

The girls didn't know what else to do so found Amy on Facebook and sent her it

"When I'm finished with you and anyone else who's posted anything on this vile little site, you're going to be sorry you were ever born, do you hear me"

The girls felt really scared now, it had just seemed like a bit of fun before but now it seemed pretty serious

"Have you been bullying Gaby in school or just on here?"

"It's not us that's bullying her"

"You've been commenting on here you disgusting little animals, now I asked you a question"

"It's Leah and Jessica mainly, they've been getting everyone to say stuff and making her do stuff like eat grass for their videos"

"What stuff do they say"

"Just daft things. Like that she's fat and ugly and stuff"

"What and you think that's daft? Have you got any idea how upset, how hurt you've made her feel?" Amy screamed tears running down her face "I hope you all rot in hell"

Amy then ran upstairs to her aunties office

"Amy what's up?" Rachel asked

"It's Gaby"

"Oh, you found out about earlier? It's okay, I took her home a while ago and she seems to have calmed down a bit"

"No you don't understand, look I really don't want to show you this"

"Show me what?" Rachel asked, instantly feeling worried again

Amy quickly unlocked her phone and showed Rachel the site.

Rachel couldn't believe what she was seeing, she couldn't believe anyone could be so cruel to anyone let alone a lovely girl like Gaby. She wanted to turn away but she forced herself to look through it, tears started to run down her face. She saw the video of Jessica forcing her to eat grass, of her lifting her skirt up, all the pictures they'd posted of her.

"It's not just on here, they've been bullying her in school, saying she's fat and ugly and all sorts. It's Jessica Jameson and Leah Bell who put it up, though I think Jessica was the ring leader"

Rachel had never felt more infuriated or upset in her life. She couldn't comprehend how Gaby had gone through all this alone. She almost felt too shocked to speak, however she quickly grabbed her bag and put her coat on

"Rachel I'm coming with you" Amy said crying

"Okay" Rachel agreed and the two of them ran over to the car

As they were going over, Rachel caught sight of Jessica, for a moment she had an overwhelming urge to go over and smack her. She'd never felt that about any of her pupils before, no matter what they'd done, however the amount of pain she'd inflicted on her daughter made her forget she was a head teacher for a second. Of course, she refrained herself however and her and Amy got in the car.

Rachel put her foot down and drove home, speeding the whole way there

Back at home Gaby was still in the bathroom, she just didn't know what to do but she knew that it wasn't going to get any better

Shaking and crying she reached for the packet of paracetamol and started to take them out the packet

She was so scared; however, she didn't know what other option she had and didn't want to face anymore of it

About 5 minutes later Rachel swerved onto the drive. Her and Amy ran out of the car and Rachel quickly unlocked the door

"Gaby" Amy shouted as they ran upstairs

Rachel looked in her bedroom but realised she wasn't in there, panic started to flood through her

"Rachel the bathroom doors locked" Amy shouted

Rachel ran over and hammered on the door

"Gaby are you in there" she shouted "Gaby open the door"

However still there wasn't an answer

"Amy go and get me a coin" Rachel said "Quickly"

Amy ran as fast she could and passed Rachel a 2p coin

Rachel turned the lock as quickly as she could and barged in

She gasped when she saw Gaby on the floor, a box of paracetamol beside her

She ran over and pulled her head forward

"Spit them out Gaby" she screamed "Come on spit them all out"

She out her hand inside Gaby's mouth and physically pulled some of them out her mouth, while violently patting her back

Amy stood at the bathroom door crying

"Gaby spit them all out" Rachel repeated "That's it darling good girl"

"I want to die" Gaby cried

"No Gaby, no you don't. How many have you taken, tell me how many"

"None, I didn't swallow any before you came"

Feeling weak, Rachel wrapped her arms around Gaby and pulled her into her chest

"I'm going to be sick" Gaby said

Rachel helped her to the toilet and soon she started being violently sick

"There we go, get it all out" she said "are you sure you didn't take any pills?"

"I didn't take any" Gaby sobbed "But I wish I had, I didn't know what else to do"

"Gaby, I promise it stops right now. It will never ever feel like this again" Rachel said "Come on let's get you into your bedroom"

Amy went over and helped Rachel get Gaby up and into her room

"Gaby why didn't you tell me" Rachel said with tears in her eyes "Why the hell didn't you tell me what was going on?"

"I'm sorry" Gaby cried "I thought it would make it worse"

Rachel sighed and wrapped her arms around her and cuddled her as if she was as young as Ivy again

"Alright sweetheart shhh it's alright" she soothed

"How did you find out?"

"I saw some girls looking at the page on their phones and I made them tell me everything" Amy said "You've been so brave Gaby"

"No I haven't" Gaby said "It's true what they say, I am fat and ugly"

"Gaby listen to me" Rachel said suddenly sounding quite stern "You never ever take a word of what they say seriously, I wouldn't often say this but they're a bunch of scum Gaby and I don't want them in my school anymore. What they did to you was horrific, and the fact other people joined in made it worse but they're a bunch of cowardly idiots and what they say to you, they say out of pure jealousy and spite nothing else do you hear me?"

Gaby nodded her head

"I can't believe what could have happened" Rachel said crying "I'm so sorry Gaby, I'm sorry I didn't notice what was going on"

"I never want to come back to school"

"Gaby when I'm finished with them all they'll be on their hands and knees apologising to you"

"Please don't make me go back to my form group"

Rachel realised that maybe It would be better to move her to a different group

"Gaby, have Chloe and Megan been joining in on this" Rachel asked these were two of Gaby's really good friends from primary and even though they'd all drifted apart at secondary Rachel thought that maybe it'd be good to get Gaby talking to them again as they were both really nice girls

"No not at all, they were nice to me a couple of weeks ago when they found me crying, I don't think they really knew what was going on"

"Well how about if I put you in a form group with them, it's a really nice group that one too"

"Yeah that'd be good" Gaby said "Please don't make me go back in tomorrow, I couldn't face seeing everyone"

"Yeah I was thinking a day or so at home might do you some good. Gaby, I need you to promise me something"

"What?"

"Promise me you're not going to try anything else, can you promise me that"

"I won't try anything"

Rachel gave her another hug

"I want you to leave all the doors open to, including your bedroom door"

"Mum do you not trust me"

"Gaby you are the most important thing in my life, I couldn't stand to lose you" Rachel said crying again

"You're so much better than those girls Gaby" Amy said, this was the first time she'd spoken since they'd found Gaby "They're mindless bitches and you're worth 10 of the lot of them, I used to get bullied you know"

"But why would anyone bully you, you're so pretty and slim"

"And you're not? Gaby I'm not just saying this because I have to, you're absolutely stunning and I know you don't feel it at the moment but it's true. They go for girls like you because they know you're too nice to say anything back to them, and they're jealous of you, because you're kinder than they are, because you're prettier than they are and a hell of a lot smarter than they'll ever be" Amy said

"Amy's right you know Gaby" Rachel said "What you've been through is horrific, it's one of the worst cases of bullying I've ever seen if not the worst"

"I just don't get how it's going to end, they've got all these pictures of me"

"Well like I said, Jessica and Leah aren't welcome at my school anymore and I'm going to make sure the police are aware of what's gone on, I think with a bit of conformation we'll see just how much of a cowardly bunch they really are"

"Mum I'm really tired, can I go to sleep for a bit" Gaby asked, she felt overwhelmed by everything that had happened and suddenly felt exhausted

"Yes of course, me and Amy will let you have a little rest, but Gaby this bedroom door stays open okay"

"Okay"

"And pass me your phone, I don't want you looking through it till all this has been taken down"

Gaby handed it over and also gave Rachel her laptop before getting into bed

"I'll go and make us a coffee Rachel" Amy said, leaving Gaby and Rachel alone

Rachel crouched down beside Gaby and started stroking her hair

"I love you so much" she whispered even though Gaby was already half asleep

Rachel stayed with Gaby for a couple of minutes before deciding to go downstairs

As she was going down she could feel Gaby's phone going off in her pocket

She walked downstairs and went into the back room with Amy and the two of them sat on the sofa

"She'll be okay you know Rachel"

"Will she? I don't think I would be if people had been treating me like this this" Rachel said

She got the phone out of her pocket and looked at all the new messages that's come through and it made her start crying all over again

"Jessica told her to kill herself" Rachel said "I bet that's what put the idea into her head, honestly Amy I don't know how I'm going to keep my cool with her tomorrow when I speak with them all. I saw her today and I felt like smacking her, I honestly could have done"

"Do you not think maybe it might be better to let someone else deal with it Rach" Amy asked gently

Rachel thought before saying "No, it's got to be me, I'm the one who's seen how much it's effected Gaby. I promise you I'll refrain myself from doing what I want to do with them"

"Well I don't know if I'll be able to refrain myself"

"No Amy" Rachel said suddenly sounding serious "between you and me I couldn't give a crap what happens to them, but you are not getting into trouble over them, no one is, they're not worth getting suspended over do you understand?"

Amy nodded her head

"I mean it, don't you go up to them they're not worth it" Rachel repeated

"Take some screenshots of the page Rachel, just in case anyone gets suspicious and figures out you know and takes I down"

"How do I do that?"

Amy took the phone and got the screenshots

"How's she going to get through this Amy, they've humiliated her in the worst way possible" Rachel said "The poor kid"

"She'll get through it Rachel, we'll help her to"

The two of them stayed chatting for ages and about an hour or so later Gaby came downstairs in her pyjamas and dressing gown, she looked so fragile Rachel thought to herself

"Hey love, come and sit down with us"

Gaby sat down in between her Mum and cousin

"do you feel a bit better after your sleep huh?"

"A little bit" Gaby said sounding small

"Yeah, do you want a drink or something to eat or anything?"

"I'm okay" Gaby said, "Mum has anyone else said anything, are there any more messages?"

"That's not for you to worry about Gaby"

"Are you going to talk with them tomorrow Mum?" Gaby asked sounding scared

"Yes I am and like I said I'm sure when I talk to them we'll see just how pathetic they all are" Rachel said "Now Gaby I need you to do something for me, I want the names of every single person who's been involved in this and I want you to tell me what they've done"

"Mum there's loads and some of them haven't really done anything they've just kind of said a couple of things"

"I want all the names Gaby" Rachel said "I don't care what they've done, if they were involved in this then I'm going to sort them out"

Rachel went and got Gaby a pen. With trembling hands Gaby started writing, she tried to remember every single person

Eventually she handed the list to Rachel

Rachel glanced through it, Gaby had written down about 25 names, most of them were in year 8 however there were a few in her form group in year 7 too. Some of the names really surprised her as she'd never have thought they'd have been involved in this, however, she knew kids would just often copy each other so they wouldn't finish up a target themselves, even if they didn't agree with what was going on.

"Thank you" Rachel said "I meant what I said Gaby, it stops right now, I'm going to make sure of that"

Gaby really didn't understand how her Mum was going to put a stop to it, but right now she didn't want to think about it all

The afternoon seemed to pass quite quickly. Rachel had just put Ivy to bed even though it was quite early, she was really tired after playing at her friend's house.

Rachel came downstairs, she had her hair tied back in a bobble and was wearing her hoody and leggings, this was quite unusual for her but after today she just wanted to get all comfortable

"Girls do you fancy getting a Chinese takeaway, none of us have eaten much all day"

They all agreed to this, Amy and Rachel were starving however Gaby still didn't have much of an appetite

When the Chinese came they, all went into the living room and got cosy on the sofa.

Amy stuck wild child on in the background, knowing it was one of Gaby's favourite films

Gaby barely touched her food and just pushed it around her plate

"Mum I'm really tired, is it okay if I go to bed"

"Yeah of course, I'll come and see you in a bit" Rachel said

Gaby got up and went upstairs, Rachel watched her as she went upstairs

After everything that had happened today both Rachel and Amy felt pretty tired too

Amy went upstairs and after about 20 minutes Rachel decided to go up to

She went to the bathroom and put her pyjamas on before going into Gaby's room, panic flooded through her when she saw she wasn't in there

Flashbacks of earlier came to her instantly and she ran across to the bathroom and saw the door was locked again

"Gaby open this door right now" Rachel screamed

She was about to go and get another coin when suddenly it opened, and Gaby came out, relief flooded through Rachel

"Mum I wasn't trying to top myself, I'd just gone to the loo, unless you want me to keep the door wide open every time I go in there"

"I'm sorry Gaby I just saw you weren't in your room and I panicked"

"I told you, I'm not going to try anything else"

"Okay, I'm sorry"

Gaby walked off and went back to her bedroom

It was about midnight and Rachel still couldn't sleep despite the fact she was really tired. She decided to go and check on Gaby

When she went into her room she found her still awake, crying slightly

"Budge up" she said

Gaby moved over, and Rachel got into the large double bed

Rachel wrapped her arms around Gaby and eventually they fell asleep

Rachel woke up quite early the next morning. She crept out of Gay's bed trying hard not to wake her, before jumping in the shower.

She was nervous about today, all night it had been going around in her head, what she was going to say to the girls and how she was going to handle it

After she got out the shower, she started putting her makeup on. She had dark circles under her eyes which she put concealer over, she wanted to look as confident as possible, she didn't want to show any sign of weakness when she saw them today.

After doing her makeup and hair she put on her black pencil skirt and blue blouse with her jacket

She looked at herself in the mirror for a few seconds, she fiddled with her hair a bit more before going and waking Ivy and Amy up

Rachel had rung her mum last night and asked her to keep an eye on Gaby as she definitely didn't want to leave her alone again. She'd had to explain what was going on but didn't go into all the details, knowing that Gaby wouldn't want a massive fuss made.

Just before she was about to drive the girls to school she decided to check on Gaby

When she went into her room she found her awake and sitting up

"Hey love, how are you feeling today"

"Okay" Gaby mumbled "I'm nervous about them finding out that you know"

"Believe me Gaby it should be them who are feeling nervous" Rachel said "Grandma will be round any second now"

"Does she know everything?"

"Not everything no, but I had to tell her the basics" Rachel explained "I might not be back till quite late on tonight because obviously I'm going to have to sort out a fair bit of paperwork for Leah and Jessica"

"Are you definitely going to chuck them out Mum?"

"Yes I am, the two of them will be lucky not to end up with a criminal record by the end of today. And based on the conversations I have with the rest of them today they might not be the only ones" Rachel said "But anyway, that's not for you to worry about, you just have a relax today okay?"

"Okay"

Rachel went downstairs and got her stuff together

"Girls it's time to go" she shouted

Amy and Ivy came running through and they got in the car

Rachel dropped Ivy off first

"Are you ready for them Rach?"

"too bloody right I'm ready for them" Rachel said "Amy I meant what I said yesterday I don't want you going near them today"

"When you going to call them in"

"I don't know, I'm going to talk to the staff first, I need to let them know what's going on"

"Will you expel them straight away"

"Much as I'd like to I can't do that, I've only got the power to suspend them, but I'll set up a meeting with the governors for the end of the week, we've got more than enough evidence against them all"

They got to school, and Amy got out and went ahead

Rachel went to her office and quickly found Chris and Kim

She explained what had happened with Gaby, it still felt awful talking about it and she struggled not to get all emotional again

"Rachel I can't believe it, it's so awful. Poor Gaby" Kim said

"She's in such a bad way" Rachel said

"Would you prefer me to speak with them?" Kim offered

"No, it needs to be me" Rachel said "Though I think it would be a good idea if one of you sat in on it, just to make notes and everything"

"I'll sit in with you" Kim said "How are you going to face it though"

"With difficulty, but I need to do it"

"So are you going to get Jessica and Leah in on their own first before you speak to the rest of the that were involved"

"Yeah that's probably best"

Rachel waited about 20 minutes, her stomach was in knots however eventually she got up and went to the classroom Leah and Jessica were in

She knocked on the door

"Miss Mason?" Jasmine asked

"Leah, Jessica my office now" Rachel said

She saw them exchange a glance with one another and they seemed a little reluctant to get up

"I said move" she shouted

The rest of the class jumped. None of them had ever seen Rachel look so angry before

Rachel walked in front of them on the way to her office

"Inside here the pair of you"

The girls smirked at each other

"I don't know what you're smiling at, but by the time I'm finished with you pair of cruel idiots there won't be anything left to smile at now get inside"

Hearing Rachel speak like this did shock the girls a bit

"Miss you're not allowed to talk to us like that" Jessica said

"Aren't I?" Rachel said raising an eyebrow

"No and I'll tell my dad and he'll come in and see you"

"Oh I'll be seeing your Dad later don't you worry" Rachel said "Inside now"

The two of them followed Rachel in, Rachel sat behind her desk and the two girls sat down

"Do you know I can hardly bear to look at the two of you, I can hardly stand to have you in this school for another second"

"Miss, we haven't even done anything" Leah said

"Do you know how I found Gaby yesterday huh?" Rachel said "I found her locked in the bathroom with a box of paracetamol by her, you two cowardly bullies had made her feel so miserable she wanted to take her own life."

Jessica and Leah began to look uncomfortable now

"Miss, we don't know anything about Gaby, we don't even know her"

"Don't you dare sit there and lie to me." Rachel shouted

With shaking hands she got Gaby's phone and opened up the website and showed them it "So you didn't make this? You didn't post a picture of her yesterday when she started her period. You didn't yank her skirt down or force her to eat grass. You didn't post a comment on there Jessica saying she should kill herself. You didn't do any of that did you?"

The girls began to look really uncomfortable and wished Rachel would put the phone away

"What? Making you feel embarrassed is it looking at what you two have done, are you too cowardly to face up to it. Because I think the word cowardly just about sums you two up, have you got any idea how disgusting what you've done is, how much you've humiliated Gaby. You've been picking on Gaby because you know she won't stand up to you, she's scared of you, but you know what neither of you scare me, I think you're both pretty pathetic"

"Rachel" Kim warned, thinking she should really calm down a little bit

"Miss, we didn't mean for her to try and kill herself, it was only meant to be a laugh"

"A laugh? You call telling someone they'd be better off dead a laugh do you Leah? Telling someone they're ugly and worthless, is that funny to you? Making someone feel humiliated and hopeless"

"We're sorry"

"It's gone way beyond saying sorry girls. Do you know I've found Gaby in tears nearly every day for the last couple of weeks, I've been worried sick about her and she's been too scared to come to school because of you two? And do you know something else, Gaby didn't say a word about any of this to me, she was too scared, so every vile thing you've done to her, she'd had to go through entirely on her own"

Both girls were crying now, they couldn't believe how far this had gone

"You may cry girls, but it doesn't fix anything does it. It doesn't fix the fact you've probably scarred Gaby for life, completely damaged her self-esteem" Rachel said "But that doesn't matter because Gaby's worthless, isn't she? She's fat and ugly, isn't she?"

Leah flinched hearing Rachel say this

"What is it Leah? Do those words make you feel uncomfortable?" Rachel said "They clearly weren't having that effect when you plastered them all over this hate site"

"Is Gaby okay now?" Jessica asked through tears

"What's with the sudden concern you weren't bothered on Friday were you, when you cornered her and forced her to eat grass then kicked her in the stomach"

"Look I know how awful we've been but is she okay now"

"No she's not, like I said she tried to kill herself yesterday. But she will be okay and you know why? Because I'm not going to let a pair of bullies like yourselves ruin her life, she's worth so, so much more than that. The pair of you turn my stomach"

"What's going to happen to us?"

"I'm suspending you both, by the end of the week they'll be a meeting with myself, the governors and your parents, the likely consequence of that meeting will be a permanent exclusion"

The girls suddenly looked horrified.

"Sorry do you think that's unreasonable girls?"

They looked at one another for a second and then Leah said "No miss, it's what we deserve."

"Oh you deserve far more than that Leah, now get out of my sight the pair of you. Go and collect your stuff and I'll get your parents to collect you from the school gate, Miss Campbell will supervise you off the site"

The two of them stood up, as they were about to go Jessica turned around

"Miss tell Gaby we're sorry, we honestly, honestly didn't mean for it to get so bad. I'll take the site down straight away"

Rachel didn't reply to her and watched as they went out

When they did she closed the door behind her, she'd never spoken to any of her students like that before, however she'd never felt angrier in her life

She wondered how she should deal with the rest of them she knew that Jessica and Leah had been the perpetrators, however obviously others had been involved. She looked at the names on the list and decided to get them all together during next period.

She went into the different classrooms and got all the kids out who'd been involved and got them all in a classroom together

The kids that were there all felt very confused as they couldn't understand why Rachel had called them all together as they couldn't think of why she'd need to see them all

Once Rachel had collected everyone she needed to, she walked in and closed the door behind her

Everyone seemed to stop talking and turn to face her

"You'll all be wondering why I called you in here, and this shouldn't take too long" she explained "It's bullying that I want to talk to you about"

The kids still looked pretty confused at this

"You see I've got strong evidence to suggest to me every single one of you has been involved in one of the worst cases of bullying I've ever seen. You might not have even realised what you were doing, how much damage you were causing, in fact I suspect the most of you didn't realise how involved you were in it."

Some of the kids were starting to look pretty uncomfortable now as they had guessed what Rachel was going on about

"But you all were involved, every single one of you has played a part in bullying my daughter Gaby and because of your actions she'd been left in an absolute state, you've humiliated her in ways that make me feel physically sick"

"Miss, we didn't set up that site" one of the girls said

"Oh believe me I know who was responsible for setting it up and you won't be seeing them again in school that's for sure. But you were all still a part of it weren't you, and you've all been pretty horrible to Gaby haven't you, you've been calling her names, laughing at her, telling her how worthless she is. You may not have set up this site but a lot of you still commented on it, some of you posted pictures, saying how ugly she is or how fat she is. Can you even begin to imagine how much that could hurt someone?"

The kids all started to look quite upset now, they hadn't realised it was so serious and had just been going on with what everyone else was doing

"One of you" Rachel began staring pointedly as Josie "was very lucky not to be heading the same way as Jessica and Leah, because what you told me last week, that little conversation we had about Gaby and Zach, it was a pack full of lies to try and get Gaby into trouble wasn't it Josie?"

Josie didn't answer and just stared at the ground

"Wasn't it?" Rachel repeated louder this time

"Yes miss"

"What's Gaby ever done to you? What's she done to make her the victim of this? Come on someone come out and tell me because I'd really love to know" Rachel said

She paused for a second however of course no one answered

"The truth is Gaby's never done anything to any of you has she? You don't hate her at all, you just went a long with it because you were all too scared to stand up against it"

"Miss, it was only a bit of fun" someone said

"Oh so making someone feel so ashamed of who they are they begin to hate themselves and are too scared to come to school anymore, that's a bit of fun is it"

Again, she was greeted with silence

"The truth is you all know it's not fun, not fun at all, it's actually pretty disgusting"

A few of the kids were crying now, they'd never meant to hurt Gaby this much and were beginning to feel truly ashamed of themselves

"Miss, I'm really sorry, I never meant to hurt Gaby, I just went along with it" One girl said

"I think that's what a lot of you did, but the reality is, you did all hurt Gaby. You hurt her in ways that no decent person should ever be hurt. Collectively you've succeeded in making her life a living hell." Rachel said "I'm not going to say anymore, but remember this, what you say to someone it sticks and it can cause real damage, I never expect to see any of you involved in anything like this again, and if I do you'll no longer be welcome at this school anyone is that clear?"

There were a few nods of the head

"Let me make this clear, you have all bullied Gaby and this school doesn't tolerate bullying. Not in any way, shape or form. Now because of your actions Gaby's going to be home from school for a couple of days, but when she comes back every single one of you will go up to her and apologise in the sincerest way possible. I will be contacting your parents throughout the day too. Let this be a lesson to all of you and consider this a final warning. Any more reports of bullying from any of you and you're out"

By now everyone had gone quiet, they were beginning to feel awful about what had happened and couldn't believe how much pain they'd caused Gaby, who was really one of the nicest girls they'd ever met.

As they were filing out of the classroom a few of the students came up to Rachel and apologised to her in person.

When the classroom was finally empty Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, she was so glad that most of the students seemed genuinely mortified by what they'd done and she could tell that it was going to be the end of it. She realised how much pain Gaby was in at the moment and that it was probably going to take quite a while before she got back to being the bubbly, self-confident girl that she once was, however this was the road to it starting to get better.

At break time Rachel decided to give her Mum a quick call to see how Gaby was doing, her Mum explained that Gaby had been pretty tearful throughout the day and seemed to want to spend a lot of time on her own. Rachel knew this was only to be expected after everything, she just really hoped that she'd be able to help Gaby get over this eventually.

Please review xxxxxx


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **Just in case anybody missed it, I updated a few weeks ago which followed on from the storyline about Gaby's bullying. With the site being down the day after thought some of you might not have seen it.**

A few weeks had passed since Rachel had dealt with the people who had been bullying with Gaby, although she was still quite shaken up by everything that had happened, Gaby was gradually starting to get back to normal. Now she'd changed form group, she'd made a really good set of friends from her year group which Rachel was really pleased about, it was so nice for her to see her daughter happy again.

It was a Friday lunch time and Rachel was in her office doing some work when there was a knock at the door

"Yes"

To her surprise Gaby walked in, normally she'd try and avoid Rachel as much as possible at school, so It was quite unusual to see her in the office

"Hey Gaby, is everything okay?" Rachel asked looking up from her work

"Can I have some money for lunch?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, she seemed to be always giving Gaby money for lunch "Honestly how much food do you buy at lunch time Gaby, I gave you money just a couple of days ago"

But she reached in her bag and got her purse out giving her a fiver

"Thanks"

"That should do for Monday too"

"Can we go home quickly?"

"What? No we can't I've got work to do"

"Okay"

"Why do you want to go home?"

"I've forgotten my PE kit, Miss Baker will go mad when she realises I don't have it and I'll have to do a detention on Monday"

"For god's sake Gaby I reminded you this morning to bring it. That's two lessons of PE in a row you'll have missed because you've forgotten it"

"Well it doesn't really matter does it? It's not like PE is actually important or anything is it?"

"Yes it is, of course it's important young lady all your subjects are"

"Well maths and English, and even things like geography and drama are because I want to take them at GCSE but why is PE important when I'm never going to need it or do an exam in it"

"Well because …. Because, you need to make sure you keep fit"

"But it's not as if we do anything that would really make us fit, we're just doing trampolining and literally you have to just stand there for half an hour of the lesson watching everyone else have a go and then you only get to go on for about 2 minutes, so how is that important?"

"Gaby I don't care, you're going to PE end of okay"

"Well if you're that bothered about me doing it why don't you just drive me back to pick my kit up"

"I told you I've got work to do and besides maybe doing a detention will make you realise how important it is to come prepared for school"

"Fine" Gaby sighed

Rachel expected Gaby to go but she seemed to be hanging around

"Is there something else you needed love?"

"Mum can I talk to you about something" Gaby said

"Yeah of course you can" Rachel replied, closing her laptop and turning to face her

Gaby had been meaning to talk to Rachel about the fat she'd been moved down a set for maths now for the past week but so far, she'd felt too nervous as she didn't want her Mum to get angry about it, but she had to give her a letter to sign and her maths teacher needed it in by this afternoon

"Has Mr Ford been to see you this week?" Gaby asked, he was Gaby's maths teacher and she was wondering if he might have mentioned

"Well I've seen him a few times, he was in my office the other day about the year 10 mocks actually"

"Oh right" Gaby said

"Why do you ask?" Rachel said a bit confused

"Has he mentioned me?"

"No I can't say he has" Rachel said

"Well you know those tests we did a few weeks ago"

"Mm yeah" Rachel said although she'd actually forgotten all about them

"Well I did kind of crap in the maths one"

"Why what did you get?"

"I don't want to say"

"Okay, well you did have a lot going on, I'm sure it'll be easier to concentrate now everything's settled down and I know maths isn't your favourite so just make sure you keep working hard at it okay?"

"The thing is…. Well he wants to move me down a set" Gaby said sounding quite upset

"Okay love, well maybe it's for the best if you're struggling in that class it might be useful to have some extra support, and it might not be permanent we always look at the sets again every term and if we can see you've made strong progress, you could always be moved back up." Rachel said "Have you just found out about it?"

"I've known since Monday" Gaby said "I was just too scared to tell you, I thought you'd be mad"

"No love I'm not mad I promise, I know you've been working really hard and as long as you're trying your best then that's good enough for me"

"Thanks Mum" Gaby said smiling, feeling so relieved now she'd told her

"Have you got a letter for me to sign about it?"

"Yeah"

Gaby started rummaging through her bag and eventually found the letter, but It was all crumpled

"Oh Gaby you can't hand that in can you, it's got drink spilled on it" Rachel sighed rolling her eyes "I'll find a new one to print off but you really do need to be more organised"

Rachel went on the computer and found the letters about year 7 sets, she printed one off, signed it and handed it back to Gaby

"Go on then you, I can see Holly waiting outside, go and enjoy the rest of your lunch"

Gaby quickly caught up with Holly and a couple of the other girls

Gaby went to maths to hand her letter in and then walked off

"I really can't be arsed with PE, I've forgotten my kit" Holly said

"So, have I, Baker's going to go mad because I missed last week too"

"Unless we just don't go and walk to the shop instead" Holly suggested "We'd be back in time for English last"

"Yeah, I guess we could, my Mum would go mad if she found out though"

"Won't the registers show we haven't been there though"

"There must be loads of different classes going on, your Mum isn't going to check the register for all of them, is she?"

"Yeah I suppose"

"We'll go when the bell goes" Holly said, "Does anyone else want to come?"

One of the other girls agreed, so at the end of lunch they waited in the toilets for a couple of minutes before walking off

All three of them felt a bit nervous as none of them really wanted to get into trouble

They checked there were no teachers around before making there way out of the school and into the front playground

Rachel had just made herself a coffee when she looked up and saw three girls running out the school gates, she was almost certain one of them was her daughter

She sighed heavily before grabbing her car keys and walking out

When she was on her way out she spotted Amy

"Amy why aren't you in class? You're not skiving off as well are you, because if you are you can wait in my office till I've caught up with Gaby and her little friends"

"Woah chill out Rach, Miss Fry asked me to go and deliver this note to Mr Clarkson about someone in her form group" Amy said showing it to Rachel

"Sorry love, I just saw you out of class and …"

"It's okay, where's Gaby gone?" Amy said

"Her and her friends have just legged it out of school"

Amy laughed at this slightly "I'm sure they'll be fine"

"Oh, they will be until I get my hands on them" Rachel said

"Rach can I go out tonight?"

"Out where? And can we talk about it later, I need to catch up with the three musketeers"

"Just this party"

"We'll talk about it later" Rachel said before running off

She quickly got in her car and drove out of school.

By now they were well out of the school grounds, so Rachel couldn't see any sign of them, but she had a good idea where they might have gone

She drove over towards the corner shops and sure enough, she spotted the three of them

Holly turned around and saw Rachel's car following them

"shit, Gaby that's your mum"

"Oh no she's going to kill me"

She hasn't seen out faces, come on let's run"

The three of them started running off as quick as they could

Rachel shook her head in disbelief

She followed the girls around the corner and put her window down

"Girls I'm in my car you're all on foot, it's quite clear who's going to win this little game of chase" Rachel shouted

The girls looked at each other and sighed but realised there was no point in continuing to hide. They all stopped running and Rachel quickly pulled in next to them

"Nice little trip out girls?" She asked sarcastically "Get in the car all of you, we're going back to school"

None of them dared argue and got into her car

The three of them squished into the back as none of them wanted to be sat in the front with Rachel

"Care to explain what on earth you're doing here when you should be in your PE lesson"

"Mum I told you I forgot my kit, we all did, and Miss Baker would have just made us stand there the whole lesson so it's not as if we would have learnt anything" Gaby said bravely

"That still doesn't excuse your behaviour" Rachel said "You know what we're going to sort this out back at school, put your seatbelts on all of you"

None of them said anything and they all did as they were told

The ride back felt extremely uncomfortable as Rachel wasn't speaking to any of them and they didn't dare try and talk to each other

They got back to school and followed Rachel up to her office

She went on at them for ages about the importance of not missing school, before giving them a weeks detention and getting them to do an essay on why every school lesson is important

By the end of the school day Rachel was feeling pretty tired and was ready to go back home

Amy came up to her office first

"Did you sort Gaby out Rach?"

"Yes I did, I don't think she's speaking to me now though"

"Why?"

"She thinks I embarrassed her in front of all her friends, but I told her I didn't treat her any differently than anyone else"

"I'm sure she'll be fine once she's cooled off" Amy said "Have you thought about the party yet?"

Rachel sighed she didn't really want Amy to go but she realised she needed to give her a bit of trust "I'll let you go but only if I drop you off and pick you up"

"Yeah that's fine"

"and I don't want you to get drunk"

"I won't I promise"

Eventually Gaby came into Rachel's office looking upset

"Where have you been, we need to go and pick Ivy up, come on"

Gaby didn't say anything but followed Rachel out to the car

She didn't say anything the whole way back and when they got home she went straight up to her room

Rachel decided to give her a few minutes before going up

She was putting the girls bags away when suddenly Ivy came in, wriggling around and looking all uncomfortable

"What's up with you?"

"I really need a wee"

"Well go on then, you know where the toilets are"

"I can't undo my button on my trousers to pull them down though"

"Oh right, come here then" Rachel said before doing for her "Go on, go quickly before you have an accident"

Ivy then ran off and Rachel continued to put the bags away

A few minutes passed before she decided to go up and see Gaby

She knocked on bedroom door, but Gaby didn't answer

"Gaby can I come in?"

Gaby sighed before opening the door for her Mum

"Can we talk?"

"I'm not in the mood for another lecture Mum" Gaby sighed

Rachel smiled slightly before sitting down on Gaby's bed and gesturing for Gaby to do the same

"You know I think it's great you've found such a nice set of friends" Rachel said

"Well why did you have to have such a go at us all, it made me look so stupid"

"Gaby I couldn't just turn a blind eye to it" Rachel sighed

"But how am I supposed to be a normal kid with normal friends if you shout at them all the time, it's not as If I could invite them back here or anything when you're giving them detention, it would just feel so weird for them"

Rachel could kind of see where Gaby was coming from

"You know you're always allowed friends back here, it would be completely different than if we're at school. Molly still comes here all the time" Rachel pointed out

"That's different, I've known her since primary. The others would just find it so strange"

"But you know I don't act like I do in school when we're at home Gaby"

"Yeah but tit would still be weird"

"Why don't you invite them over tomorrow, they can sleep too if they want"

"We're going to the cinemas tomorrow then sleeping at Holly's" Gaby said

"Okay well maybe next weekend then?"

"Yeah maybe"

"I do know it can't be easy for you, but I want your friends to feel welcome here, even if I have had to tell them off in school"

"Thanks Mum" Gaby said, she felt a bit bad now for being so moody as she could clearly see Rachel was making an effort

Rachel then got up and left, leaving Gaby to get changed out of her uniform

A few hours passed, Rachel had just put Ivy to bed, so her and Gaby were watching some TV while Amy got ready

"mum can I try some of your wine?" Gaby asked

"You'll hate it" Rachel warned but handed her the glass

Feeling quite excited Gaby put the glass to her mouth and tried some, she instantly pulled a face

"That's vile"

"See I told you" Rachel said laughing "Though I'm sure it'll grow on you as you get older"

Suddenly Amy came downstairs

"Wow don't you look fab" Rachel said, "Are you ready to get going?"

Amy nodded her head

"Gaby keep an eye on Ivy for me love"

"I will do, don't worry"

Rachel smiled before getting in the car with Amy, it wasn't very far away and only took them about 5 minutes to get there

"Right be good won't you, promise you won't do anything silly"

"I promise"

Amy then got out and went inside

She hadn't eaten much today as she told Rachel that there would be food at the party, so it didn't take her long to start feeling tipsy

A few of the girls came over to her and they had a few more drinks before they all started dancing together

Amy had such a good friendship group and they loved spending time together

It didn't take long for everyone to get extremely tipsy

One of the boys in the year above from Amy called Sam came over and started talking to her

Amy felt really excited as she'd always found him really attractive but didn't know if he was into her

Before long they started kissing and after a few more drinks Sam suggested they go upstairs together

Amy felt so nervous, she'd never done anything with a boy before beyond kissing

They went up to one of the bedrooms and started making out together, it wasn't long before Sam started taking Amy's clothes off

Sam started kissing Amy's body and then slipped one of his fingers inside of her and then another. Amy was surprised by how much it hurt, she began to think this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Should we go all the way" he whispered

Amy didn't know what to do but nodded her head in the end

It wasn't long before Sam was inside of her

Straight away Amy felt a pain go through her, she hated it and just wanted it to stop but she didn't know what to do now it was happening

After what seemed like an eternity it was over, Amy just laid there shaking, feeling scared and dirty. Tears were running down her face and her mascara was smudged

"What's wrong? Did you not enjoy it?"

"No I did" Amy lied

"Don't tell me it was your first time"

"No of course not" Amy lied again

She quickly put her clothes on and ran downstairs, she couldn't stay here a moment longer, she just wanted to go home

Amy caught up her friends and let them know she was going to go home

Understandably her friends didn't want to leave her in the state she was in so insisted on walking back with her

As they were walking back Amy told them what had happened through tears

"Oh Amy it must have been awful" one of them said

"It was" Amy sobbed

"Are you going to tell your auntie about it?"

"I don't know, I don't know what to do" she cried

The others tried to comfort her, but nothing was really working, Amy was still quite drunk too which wasn't really helping anything

Finally, they arrived at the house and one of the girls knocked on the door

Rachel was surprised to hear someone knocking but went downstairs to answer it, wearing just her pyjamas

She got a shock when she saw a load of her students at the door with Amy who was in floods of tears

"Amy what's happened love?" she asked sounding really worried

Amy didn't say anything but ran past all of her friends and upstairs to her bedroom, she closed he door behind her and started sobbing hysterically

"Girls what happened?" Rachel asked

None of the girls wanted to say as they didn't think it was there place

"She just got really upset Miss, we don't know why"

Rachel could tell they knew more than they were letting on but didn't want to make them feel uncomfortable

"Okay, thanks so much for taking her home" Rachel said "I'll give you some money for a taxi back to the party"

"It's okay miss, it literally only took us 10 minutes to walk"

"Are you sure?"

"Honestly it's fine"

"Okay, well thanks again girls"

Rachel then went straight upstairs to Amy's room, she knocked on the door

"Go away" Amy shouted

Hearing Amy sound so upset made Rachel even more worried, so she went in anyway, she found Amy on he bed sobbing her heart out

"I told you to go away" Amy screamed

Rachel ignored her and went over to her, she started stroking her hair, trying to get her to calm down

"Right let's take your makeup off yeah? You don't want mascara running all over you"

Rachel grabbed some makeup wipes and gently started rubbing her niece's face

"Do you want to get into some pyjamas hmm, get a bit comfier?"

Amy didn't say anything but grabbed some pyjamas and quickly changed into them

"Do you think you can tell me what's happened to make you so upset hmm?"

"I just had a falling out with a boy, it's fine"

"It must have been a pretty big falling out to make you this upset"

"I'll be fine"

"Love you know you can talk to me"

"I said I'm fine, leave me alone"

Rachel didn't know what to do but, in the end, she decided to give Amy some space

A few hours passed, and Amy still couldn't sleep, she was just tossing and turning, she kept having flashbacks to what had happened. She decided to go and see if her auntie was awake as she couldn't stand to stay in her room a moment longer

She crept across the landing and gently opened Rachel's door, she walked over to her, but she could see she was fast asleep

Amy tapped her gently causing her to wake up

"Amy, are you okay?" Rachel said sleepily

"Rachel can I talk to you" Amy cried

"Yeah of course" Rachel said, "Do you want to go downstairs?"

"No" Amy said before climbing into bed beside her

"What is it love?"

"I've done something really stupid and I know you're going to hate me" Amy cried

"Okay" Rachel said calmly "what is it love? I'm not going to hate you I promise"

Amy took a deep breath before saying "I had sex at the party"

Rachel wasn't expecting this at all and she couldn't help but feel angry

"What you're only 14 Amy! And you don't have a boyfriend"

"I know, I know it was stupid"

"Too bloody right it was stupid, who was it with?"

"Just some guy, I don't really know him"

"Tell me you're not being serious, you're telling me you've just lost your virginity to a practical stranger at some party"

"Rachel I'm sorry" Amy sobbed

"I don't believe you Amy, you've got more respect for yourself than that surely!" Rachel said sitting up in bed now

"Okay" she said trying to calm herself down "Tell me you used protection"

Amy just shook her head

"For gods sake, you've been taught about safe sex in school, you know the risks involved, pregnancy, std's" Rachel shouted "I've spoken to you about how important it is to wait"

"I knew you wouldn't understand this is why I didn't want to tell you" Amy cried

"Well I'm sorry for caring about you Amy, I'm sorry for wanting your first experience of sex to be with someone special, not some random lad who just wanted to take advantage of you"

"Thanks, I feel a whole lot better for talking to you" Amy said before running out the room and back to her bedroom

Rachel called after her, but she ignored her, it took her a couple of minutes to calm down, but once she had she began to realise how badly she'd handled the situation

She waited a couple more minutes before going back to Amy's room

Again, she found Amy crying, so she went over to her

"Sweetie I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted like that"

"Rachel, I feel so horrible"

Rachel sighed before sitting down next to her

"You'll always feel like that when you lose your virginity, especially when it's to the wrong person"

"I wish I hadn't have done it"

"Well unfortunately we can't turn back time, what's happened has happened" Rachel said

"It hurt so much"

"I know, sex in that sort of situation, when you don't feel relaxed, well it's always going to hurt love, it's never going to feel right"

"I'll never do it again, I feel like such a slag"

"You're not a slag" Rachel said firmly "Hey you made a mistake, I was your age once you know, we've all been there"

"I bet you didn't lose your virginity to a randomer at a party though"

"No, but strictly between you and me It wasn't too far away from that scenario" Rachel said

"Really?"

"Well I'm not going to go into the details, but let's just say I was 15 and it was a campout we were all having, there was copious amounts of alcohol involved and I didn't end up sleeping in the tent I was supposed to in the end"

"Did you know the guy"

"Not really" Rachel said "And I can still remember how I felt afterwards, which is why I wouldn't have wanted you going through the same thing"

"It was awful"

"Well like I said there's nothing we can do about it now, just put it behind you, though it is always better to get tested if you have had unprotected sex"

"I'm not going to a bloody STD clinic Rachel I'd rather die"

"Well if you have sex without a condom then you need to face the consequences don't you, but you won't have to go to the clinic you can order the kits online"

"oh really"

"Yeah I'll show you tomorrow"

"sounds like great fun" Amy said sarcastically

She was starting to feel quite a lot better now though

"Rach can I ask you something"

"Yeah"

"Well when we did it, I bled a bit is that normal?"

"Yeah, when you have sex for the first time you tear your hymen which causes you to bleed a little bit"

"Oh okay" Amy said feeling a bit embarrassed now

"Anyway, are you feeling a bit better now"

"Yeah, loads better" Amy said

"Good, come on then let's go to bed, it's really late"

"Can you stay with me tonight?"

"Okay"

Rachel got into bed with Amy and put her arm around her and eventually they both fell asleep

Please review/suggest ideas xxxxx


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was late on a Friday night and Gaby and Rachel had, had a falling out, they seemed to have been falling out quite a lot lately. Rachel was getting a lot of reports from teachers about Gaby not working hard enough during her lessons and being disruptive in class. All this was quite unlike Gaby, although she'd never been a model student she was normally very conscientious about her work and would get her head down in class.

Amy was out with one of her friends and Rachel had put Ivy to bed a while ago, so it was just the two of them downstairs

"Gaby I just don't understand your behaviour, Mr Michaels said that throughout the whole lesson you barely did any work and that you were rude to him when he tried to ask you why you hadn't done it"

"It's not my fault if his lessons are boring is it, he's a crap teacher" Gaby said

"Hey mind your tone. Mr Michaels is a brilliant teacher and I don't care how boring you were finding the work you will still show some respect for your teachers. I'm ashamed of you Gaby, you know better than to act like that"

"It's so unfair" Gaby said tears forming in her eyes. She didn't know why she was crying, she was just feeling angry and emotional all the time

"Unfair? I think the way you've been acting is pretty unfair young lady, I think it was unfair of you to ruin a lesson that Mr Michaels would have put time and effort into planning"

"No, it's unfair that no one else has a Mum that spies on them all the time"

"Gaby, I don't spy on you" Rachel sighed

"Yes, you do, and all the teachers tell you every time I've done anything wrong and then I get into trouble"

"Well if someone had been disrupting a lesson then I'd have informed the parents anyway"

"Mum I can't be arsed talking about it" Gaby said crying

"Hey, mind your language, and we need to talk about it, because your school work's been slipping"

"Fine put me in detention then I don't care" Gaby screamed before storming upstairs and slamming her bedroom door

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes, there'd been a few little instances like this over the last couple of days with Gaby.

She decided to give Gaby a few minutes to calm down before going up to talk to her and decided to pour herself a glass of wine

Rachel had been down there for a while when she realised she was feeling quite hungry so went in the biscuit tin. She was surprised when she found some of them with only a little bit eaten and couldn't help but think it was rather strange. However, she decided not to think too much of it and went upstairs.

She was about to go into Gaby's room when she noticed that the light was still on in Ivy's room, this surprised her as she thought Ivy had gone to sleep when she put her to bed, so she decided to go and investigate

As soon as Ivy heard footsteps, she flicked the lamp in her bedroom off

Rachel walked into her room

"Ivy are you awake?" she asked going over to her bed

It was only when she got closer that she realised Ivy's face was all wet with tears

Ivy had come in from school really quiet today, but Rachel had just presumed it was just because she was feeling tired and was ready for a bit of a rest

"Hey sweetie what's the matter?" she asked gently sounding really concerned

Ivy suddenly burst into tears

Rachel flicked the lamp on and got into bed next to Ivy, putting her arm around

"What's happened huh?" she whispered "You can tell me can't you"

Ivy didn't say anything, but put her head against Rachel's chest as she cried

"Did something happen at school today love?"

Ivy nodded her head in response

Rachel stroked her hair gently and tucked a piece of it behind her ear

"yeah it did? Do you want to tell me what it was that happened?"

Ivy shook her head

"No don't want to tell me" Rachel said, "Did you get into some sort of trouble my love?"

"No, it wasn't that" Ivy cried

"Then what was it darling, you can tell me I promise I'm not going to get mad"

Ivy took a deep breath before saying "We did a maths test the other day and my teacher gave the marks back today and mine was the worst in the class" she sobbed

"Oh love, has that's what's been upsetting you?" Rachel asked

Ivy nodded her head

"Come here" Rachel sighed, giving her a big cuddle "hey I don't want you getting upset over a silly little maths test"

"I'm sorry I did try"

"I know you will have done Ivy and I promise that's all I'm ever going to ask for"

Ivy started to calm down now

"I heard how well you did in your Literacy lesson the other day, Miss Jones left a lovely note in your bag about it"

"Really?"

"Yeah she said you worked really hard, and did some really excellent writing"

"I like literacy, I just hate maths"

Rachel smiled slightly

"You know what, so do I" she said laughing "But we concentrate on the things we are good at not the things we aren't"

"Thanks Rachel" Ivy said feeling a lot better now

"That's alright, you should have just told me earlier darling, I wouldn't have been cross I promise"

"I know I was just worried"

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, you ready to go to sleep then?"

"Yeah, I feel really sleepy now"

"Well it's getting pretty late" Rachel said "Come on then Mrs, why don't you get all comfy"

Rachel then got out of the bed and tucked Ivy in properly

She was about to go when she remembered something "Ivy did you eat some of the biscuits out the tin earlier"

"I think I had one" ivy said confused as to why Rachel was asking her

"Did you decide you didn't like it and put it back in the tin?"

"No why?" Ivy said laughing

"Oh no reason, night night love"

"Night"

Rachel smiled slightly before closing the door

She decided to go and see if Gaby had calmed down a bit

Rachel knocked on the door but there was no answer

"Gaby can I come in?" Rachel asked

"Go away" Gaby said crying

"Love I just want to talk"

"I said go away" Gaby shouted

Rachel sighed, she decided to go back downstairs for a bit and give her a bit more time

Gaby didn't know why she was feeling so upset, everything just seemed to be getting a bit on top of her at the moment. She was also struggling quite a lot with her eating, even though the bullying seemed to have stopped now, some of the comments that people had said to her, had stuck with her, especially about her being fat. Even though Gaby wasn't overweight in the slightest, she'd got it into her head that she was fat and now she was desperately trying to lose weight. No one had noticed what she was doing yet though. Not eating properly seemed to be making her so irritable and moody all the time though, which was why she kept snapping at people.

She couldn't seem to stop crying, even though she wasn't really sure what she was even crying about, as it wasn't as if Rachel had been really harsh on her or anything. Her stomach was also hurting her quite a lot which was making her feel worse.

In the end Gaby decided to read one of her books for a little bit, but by now she was feeling quite tired despite it being nowhere near her bedtime, so she ended up going to sleep pretty early.

Rachel was downstairs and was getting through her bottle of wine quickly. It was about 10.30 when Amy came in.

"Hey love did you have a good time" Rachel asked

"Yeah it was alright, we ended up getting Chinese" Amy said "You've had quite a bit of your wine haven't you"

"Yeah well I need it"

"Why? It's a Friday you should be all relaxed for the weekend"

"It's Gaby, we had a bit of a fight earlier, she just seems a bit moody lately" Rachel sighed

"She's 12, every girl is moody when they're 12" Amy said laughing

"Yeah, I guess you're right, it's just a bit unlike her" Rachel said "You don't think she's been bullied again do you?"

"No, she's really popular with all her class now, you must see her at break times with all her friends"

"Yeah, I suppose so, I just worry about her you know"

"She'll be fine Rach, don't stress." Amy said, "Can I have a glass of wine?"

"No you can't, you're too young to be drinking" Rachel said

"Please just a small one"

Rachel rolled her eyes but got another glass out and poured her niece a little bit

They stayed up chatting for about an hour, before deciding to go up to bed.

Amy went off and Rachel went to check up on Gaby

It didn't surprise her when she found her fast asleep as it was getting late now, Rachel went over and kissed her gently on the forehead

She was getting quite tired now so went off to bed

Gaby woke up at about 1 in the morning, her stomach ache was really bad now, so she decided to get out of bed and go to the toilet

When she got there, she realised she must have come on her period. Gaby began to feel a bit scared because it seemed a lot heavier than last time and had gone all over her pyjama bottoms. It was still a pretty big thing for her, as she wasn't used to it at all. She didn't have any of her pads left either so knew she'd have to go and ask Rachel for some.

Gaby suddenly started crying, feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything.

She stayed in the bathroom for a couple of minutes before going out to find Rachel

Gaby crept across the landing and into her Mum's bedroom

She stirred Rachel awake

"What's up love?" She asked sleepily

"can you come and help me"

"What with?"

"I just need your help"

Rachel was a bit confused by this but got out of bed anyway and followed Gaby into her bedroom

"What is it Gaby?" Rachel asked gently

Gaby pulled back her quilt and showed Rachel the red patch on her bed

"Oh love, don't worry, we'll soon have it all sorted out for you"

"My pyjama bottoms are ruined"

"It'll come out in the wash eventually" She said "Did it start while you were asleep"

"Yeah, my stomachs been hurting all night though" Gaby said "It seems so much heavier than last time"

"Well sometimes that can happen, often your first period is quite a bit lighter than a normal one"

"It's so unfair, boys don't have to go through any of this" Gaby sighed

"you're right love, girls do have a crap deal of it" Rachel said "Do you want a drink before you go back to sleep?"

"Yes please, just some water"

Rachel took Gaby's stuff down for her and put new sheets on the bed before the two of them went downstairs together

"Mum I'm sorry for being snappy earlier"

"It's okay, don't worry about it"

"I promise I'll be nicer tomorrow"

Rachel smiled slightly "I know it's not very easy when your hormones are all over the place love"

Rachel and Gaby stayed downstairs chatting for a bit before eventually deciding to go up to bed.

"Oh gaby"

"Yeah"

"You do know you can just have a full biscuit don't you?" Rachel said laughing

"What?"

"Well I keep finding these biscuits all half bitten"

"Oh right, yeah sorry I bit into and then suddenly realised I didn't like it"

"Well you could have chucked it, funnily enough no one wants it when you've eaten half"

"Sorry"

Rachel just shook her head and laughed

"Go on you, up to bed"

"Night mum love you"

Please review xxxx


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was a Sunday morning and Rachel was doing a few jobs around the house while the girls were asleep. For once Ivy had slept in which meant Rachel got to have a little lie in herself before getting up.

She'd been up for about 30 minutes when suddenly Ivy appeared downstairs looking all sleepy still.

"Morning love, you must have slept well"

"I didn't get to sleep for ages last night"

"How come?"

"I was playing with my toys"

"Well no wonder you slept in then, ah well at least it's the weekend" Rachel said "You're going to go to grandmas later because I've got to go to a meeting"

"But it's a Saturday"

"Oh trust me I know" Rachel sighed, the last place she really wanted to be on a Saturday was stuck in some meeting, but she couldn't really avoid it.

Rachel got Ivy something to drink, before deciding to go and wake Gaby and Amy up

She went into Amy's room and must to her surprise she found her already awake

"Morning Rach"

"Hey love, I didn't expect to see you awake"

"I needed to be to fit in with my timetable"

"What?" Rachel said confused

Amy sprang out of bed and produced a piece of paper

"Look I made a revision timetable, so I know I can fit everything in before the end of year exams"

"Oh wow that's so organised, well done love" Rachel said "I'm so impressed with how hard your working lately"

"Well Miss Jones said all our predicted grades for GCSE and our sets for next year are decided by these tests, so I guess they must be pretty important"

"Well Miss Jones is right, although I don't think many people in your year have taken that message on" Rachel said sighing

"I need some help with quadratic equations, can you help me?"

"Oh Amy, much as I'd love to help you I don't know the first thing about geometry"

"Um it's algebra not geometry"

"Oh yeah" Rachel said laughing "See I'm proving my point, Grandad's good at maths he might be able to help you"

"Yeah I'll ask him later"

"I wish Gaby would do some work for her exams, the year 7 ones start tomorrow" Rachel sighed "honestly I don't know what's up with her lately, she seems so quiet"

"The year 7 ones aren't that important though"

"I know, I guess I just worry because of everything that's happened with her"

"All that's over though, I keep a close eye and she's got loads of friends"

"I know, I know, I just need to relax about her"

"All 12-year olds are a bit sulky Rach"

"Sulky is an understatement at the moment" Rachel said

She chatted to Amy for a bit longer before deciding to go and wake Gaby up

"Gaby it's nearly 10, it's time to wake up now" Rachel said

Gaby eventually stirred

"Go away" she mumbled

"Gaby you need to get up"

Eventually Gaby sat up in bed

"Are you going to do some revision today?" Rachel asked "Your maths and science tests are tomorrow"

"Maybe later"

Rachel sighed, Gaby used to be such a hard-working student but recently she just seemed tired all the time and didn't seem to want to put the effort in

"Gaby you need to do well in these tests" Rachel said "You might not think it but they are actually pretty important"

"Stop lecturing me, I've only just woken up"

"Hey, I am not lecturing you, I'm simply reminding you that it's about time you put some graft in"

Gaby sighed heavily and got out of bed before stomping downstairs.

She still wasn't eating properly, in fact she was eating less and less every day, she was clever about it though and so far, no one had noticed. Not eating properly was making her feel so miserable though and she couldn't help but snap at everyone all the time, it also made it nearly impossible for her to concentrate at school because she felt tired and dizzy all the time.

Rachel got all the laundry together and came downstairs with it to put it in the wash.

"Right what does everyone want for breakfast?"

"Toast and fruit please" Amy said

"Cornflakes please"

"Gaby" Rachel asked

"I don't like eating breakfast" Gaby said

"Since when?"

"Since forever"

Rachel rolled her eyes but couldn't be bothered to get into an argument about it especially not first thing on a morning.

The day seemed to pass pretty quickly after that, the girls went to their grandma's house at around lunch time while Rachel went on her course. Even though she hadn't really been looking forward to going on it, she actually did quite enjoy it while she was there.

Rachel got back at about 4 and the kids were dropped back off shortly after she got back.

"Mum thanks for looking after them today"

"Oh it's no bother, you know they're always welcome"

"Well I really appreciate it, has everything been okay?"

"Yeah all fine, Gaby's been pretty quiet, she hasn't been feeling well so didn't eat her lunch"

"Really" Rachel said sounding a little concerned

"Yeah she went to sleep at about 2 for an hour or so because she said she was feeling tired"

"Oh right, well thanks for letting me know, I'll keep an eye on her"

Rachel made her Mum some coffee and she stayed for a while before deciding to head off.

"Thanks again for having them Mum"

"No trouble"

Rachel said goodbye and then decided to go up to Gaby's room to check on her

She knocked and then walked in, she found Gaby curled up on her bed, not really doing anything just staring into space

"Gab, Grandma said you aren't feeling well, is everything okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay" Gaby said sounding small

"What's up, is it a stomach ache?"

"Yeah"

"It's not your period again is it?"

"No" Gaby said, cheeks flushing slightly

"Okay, well take it easy then"

"Yeah I will do, thanks Mum" Gaby said, this was the nicest she'd spoken to Rachel in a while, it made a change from her snapping at her

Rachel smiled slightly, she was about to leave when she turned back around

"Gaby, you do know you can talk to me don't you" Rachel said "You can tell me anything"

"Yeah I know"

"Okay"

Rachel couldn't help but feel a bit concerned but decided to leave Gaby to it, she knew from experience the worst thing you could do to Gaby was try and push her.

She went downstairs and started cooking tea, she decided to do a spaghetti bolognaise as she wanted something quick and easy.

About 30 minutes later she shouted everybody down.

Gaby sat down at the table and instantly started panicking, she found it easy to avoid meals at school but at home It was more difficult.

"Don't worry Gaby yours is with Quorn mince" Rachel said misinterpreting why Gaby looked so worried, much to her surprise Gaby had actually kept up being a vegetarian, Rachel thought it would just be a passing stage.

"It looks so nice Mum, I just still feel a bit sick"

"Just eat what you can, but you've got to try a bit, you didn't eat breakfast, so your stomach will be completely empty"

Gaby stared at the big plate in front of her, she started trying to count up how many calories would be in her meal. She was trying so hard to stick to less than 1000 calories per day, if she ate this it would ruin her whole routine.

It did look so tempting though, maybe a forkful wouldn't hurt. Gaby lifted the fork to her mouth. It tasted so good, her Mum always did make fantastic spag bol.

Before long Gaby had finished off the whole plate.

"Good to see you've got your appetite back" Rachel said smiling

Gaby couldn't believe she'd eaten it all, she just hadn't been able to stop herself. She couldn't believe she'd had all those calories. She knew she had to get rid of them.

"Excuse me" She said before quickly getting up from the table and rushing to the upstairs loo.

She'd made herself sick a few times before and she hated it, but she couldn't think of what else to do.

Rachel had followed her up and heard her being sick.

She waited outside for a minute before coming in, she found Gaby all white and shivery by the toilet.

"Oh love, were you sick?"

"Yeah I felt really bad after I'd eaten all that food"

"Maybe something dry might have been better, do you want to have a quick shower to freshen up?"

Gaby nodded so Rachel turned the shower on and got it to the right temperature

"Right you get yourself sorted, maybe just have a rest tonight yeah?"

Gaby nodded her head.

As soon as Rachel left, Gaby started crying, she hated feeling like this all of the time.

Rachel had just poured herself some wine when there was a knock at the door.

She sighed, she wasn't really in the mood for visitors, she just fancied a relaxing night before school tomorrow.

To her surprise when she answered her door she saw her sister Mel and her ten-year-old daughter Hannah.

"Mel, is everything okay?"

"Not really, I've had a big argument with Mick and I need to sort things out, I know it's last minute, but could you have Hannah tonight"

Rachel sighed, she couldn't believe her sister was doing this again, it was so unfair on Hannah to keep dumping her wherever she fancied. Hannah was such a sweet girl who was so eager to please everyone, but very young for her age and was struggling quite a bit at school at the minute. Rachel thought the best thing for her would be some stability.

"Hannah, why don't you go through to the living room, Amy's just through their she'll be able to help take your stuff upstairs, we'll get a bed made up for you"

"Thanks auntie Rachel" Hannah said cheerfully before going through

As soon as Hannah was out of ear shot, Rachel turned her attention to Mel

"You cant keep doing this, it's so unfair on Hannah, it must be so unsettling for her"

"Rach don't start"

"It's not okay Mel, you know how Hannah's struggling at the moment, she needs some sort of stability"

"Okay, but please, just for tonight"

"fine, but I mean it Mel it's just for tonight" Rachel said "You know I love having her, but you can't keep just taking her out of her home"

Mel said thankyou to Rachel before going off.

Rachel shook her head before going back inside.

She went into the living room

"Hey Hannah, should we go and unpack your things"

Hannah nodded and followed Rachel upstairs

"I can do them if you want auntie Rachel"

"It's okay love, I don't mind" Rachel said "So did Mum and Mick have another argument then"

"Yeah they were shouting loads"

"That can't be very nice for you"

"It's okay, I don't mind, I just go upstairs and play with my dolls"

Rachel smiled to herself, Hannah really was a lovely girl.

She helped unpack her things

"Have you had some tea?"

"Yep I had beans on toast"

"Okay, well do you want anything extra, we've got spag bol left from earlier"

"I'm okay thankyou" she said happily "Can I go and see Gaby"

It always shocked Rachel when she thought about the fact Gaby and Hannah were only 2 years apart, Gaby was just so much more mature.

"She's actually not feeling too well love, I'm sure Amy and Ivy would love to see you though"

The rest of the evening passed quickly and before long it was time to put Ivy to bed.

Rachel let Hannah stay up a bit later then took her up to bed.

"Night my love, shout if you need anything"

"Okay, night Rachel, thanks for letting me stay"

"Oh love, you know you're welcome any time"

Poppy read her book for a little while before going to sleep.

Rachel and the two older girls stayed up a bit longer before deciding to go to bed.

The next morning came around far too quickly and everyone was still rather sleepy

Gaby in particular was very hard to get out of bed.

Rachel dropped off Poppy and Ivy and then headed to school

"Are you ready for your exams Gaby"

"Yeah I guess"

"What have you got first?"

"Maths"

"Well it'll be nice to get that one out the way won't it huh?"

"mm" Gaby replied clearly not really listening, she was just staring off into space

When they got to school Gaby went straight off

The morning seemed to pass quite quickly and before long it was time for Gaby to do her maths exam. She really wasn't feeling that well, she hadn't eaten properly in days and it was making her feel all shivery and dizzy.

Even in year 7 the exams were taken pretty seriously, they all had to go into the hall.

Gaby found her table and sat down, she wrote her name and before long it was time to start.

She looked at all the questions but nothing was making sense to her anymore. All the words were just swimming round on the page, her head felt all foggy. Tears started to form in her eyes, she tried to brush them off and continue with the paper but she felt like she was going to faint. Shaking she put her hand in the air and one of the teachers rushed over.

"Miss I don't feel well"

"Gaby your shaking and you've gone white as a sheet"

"Can I go to the toilet please"

"Yes of course"

Gaby got up and rushed out. As soon as she walked out she became even more dizzy and suddenly she fell to the floor.

The next thing she knew there were loads of people around her, she recognised her Mums voice

"Gaby, Gaby can you hear me" Rachel said sounding really worried

Gaby finally came around and opened her eyes

She was confused when she saw loads of faces around her

"Right back of everyone, give Gaby a bit of space" Rachel said "Gaby are you okay, you had me worried?" she asked gently, cupping her hands around Gaby's face.

"What happened?"

"You fainted love" Rachel explained "The school nurse is coming to check you over in a minute"

"Oh" Gaby said still feeling quite out of it

A minute or so later the nurse came along

"Hi Gaby I'm jenny, we're just going to do a few checks on you, see if you need to get checked out in hospital" She said "Do you think you can stand up for me?"

Gaby got up to her feet

"Right let's go to the medical room"

Rachel helped Gaby along and they all went along to the nurse's room

"Can you remember what happened in the exam Gaby"

"I just felt really dizzy, I think it's because I was nervous"

The nurse started doing a few tests

"she was sick last night" Rachel said

"Your blood pressures rather low, did you have any breakfast this morning"

"No, I did tell her to have something"

"Have you been eating properly Gaby" the nurse asked, she couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious, she'd taken Gaby's BMI and it was pretty low

"Yeah"

"Have you started your periods?"

"Yes" Gaby said blushing slightly

"When was your last one"

"A few weeks ago"

"Right, maybe we should see about getting some blood tests done, check you're not anaemic, it's pretty common in girls your age"

"Can I go home now"

"Okay, but you need to make sure you eat breakfasts properly, especially if you were sick last night, you can't do exams with nothing on your stomach" Jenny said "It's my guess it's the nerves and not eating properly over the last few days that made you faint"

"Oh, can I go home now"

The nurse looked at her, she wasn't entirely convinced there wasn't more to this.

"Yes I guess so, have a rest today and see how you feel tomorrow okay?"

"Yeah"

"Thanks for seeing her" Rachel said "Come on love, lets go and get your stuff and we'll go home"

Gaby and Rachel left, they collected her bag and went to the car

On the way back, Gaby felt Rachel staring at her

"What?" Gaby said sounding annoyed

"You've lost weight"  
"No I haven't"

"Yes you have, Gaby are you eating properly?"

"Yes" she said "The nurse already asked me that"

"well I'm asking you"

"I'm fine"

"There's always an excuse about why you don't want to eat, your feeling ill, your too full, you'll eat later. When was the last time you ate properly"?

"Mum I can't be bothered with this"

"Answer the question"

"I ate all my food last night"

"Yes and then you were sick afterwards"

"I can't help it if I'm sick"

"unless you made yourself sick" Rachel said

"First I'm anorexic, then I'm bulimic, make your mind up Mum"

"Gaby I know there's something you're not telling me" Rachel said sounding worried

"Mum leave it" Gaby sighed

"You fainted in your exam, and don't tell me it was just nerves"

Gaby didn't even bother to reply

As soon as they got home Rachel opened the door and Gaby went straight up to her room and slammed the door behind her.

Please review xxxxxx


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A couple of days had passed, and Rachel had become increasingly concerned with the way Gaby was eating at the moment, ever since the incident at school where Gaby had fainted, Rachel had been keeping a very close eye on Gaby at meal times.

She'd spent ages picking around at her food, cutting it up into smaller pieces and chewing tiny bits of it for ages. The more Rachel watched her, the more she became certain that there was a problem, however she'd tried talking to Gaby on a few occasions, but it was obvious it was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

Gaby was in her bedroom after school, she could barely concentrate on anything at the minute, she was snappy all of the time and kept having a go at people. She was losing weight rapidly now; however she was determined to get as thin as possible, she still felt so fat.

She took her clothes off and analysed herself in the mirror. Had she lost anymore weight since yesterday? Or had she put some on? Her stomach was looking so big she thought to herself, but maybe her legs had become just a bit thinner.

Gaby was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't even hear Rachel knocking

When there was no reply, Rachel walked into her daughter's bedroom and saw her in just her underwear staring at herself in the mirror. It was only then that Rachel realised just how much weight Gaby must have lost. She had no idea how long Gaby had been dieting for but by the look of her it must have been quite a while, some of her bones were even starting to poke out. Gaby had never been fat, far from it, but she'd never been thin either and now she was looking pretty unhealthy.

Rachel was about to confront Gaby straight away and tell her how awful she looked, however she knew that if she did this then it would just result in another argument between her and Gaby, so she decided to use a different tactic.

Gaby jumped when she noticed her Mum had came into her bedroom. She instantly put her arms over her chest and her cheeks flushed.

"Gaby I didn't mean to barge in on you, I did knock, you must not have heard"

"I didn't hear"

"Can you put some clothes on and come through to my room for a second love?"

"Why?" Gaby said instantly panicking

"I just want to have a couple of words"

"Have I done something wrong?" Gaby asked

"No, no, I just want to have a quick chat, it won't take long I promise"

Rachel then closed the door to allow Gaby to get changed

Gaby guessed her Mum wanted to talk to her about her eating again, she felt anxious as she was running out of excuses about it

Gaby went into her Mums bedroom. Rachel closed her door, so they could talk in private

"Come and sit on the bed Gab"

Gaby sat down nervously, and Rachel sat next to her

"I was looking through some old pictures" Rachel said "I have to show you some of them"

Gaby was a bit confused but relieved that Rachel wasn't quizzing her about food

She laughed when she was a picture of her as a baby running around the garden with just a sunhat on

"You better not show anyone that" Gaby said laughing slightly

"Look how happy you look" Rachel said "look at this one"

Gaby laughed again at the picture of her on her toy motorbike

They then got to a couple of pictures of Rachel when she was pregnant with her

"Mum you look so young" Gaby said "You had hair right down to your bum"

"I used to tie it up with a big scrunchy, they were quite fashionable back then. I guess I was quite young though, I was so shocked when I found out I was pregnant with you, I'd just got a new promotion at work" Rachel said

They went through a couple more and they came to some pictures of all three of them as a family back when Gaby's Dad was alive, they were on a beach in Spain and Rachel was wearing a bikini

"You were so skinny Mum" Gaby said enviously "I wish I looked like you"

"No you don't, you are absolutely perfect just the way you are"

"Mum, do you still miss Dad" Gaby asked

"Of course, I do, I'd do anything to have him back and I know you would to"

Gaby paused for a moment before saying "after he died I used to think about him all the time, I used to do little deals in my head like if I hold my breath for a whole minute or get to school without stepping on any lines it would bring him back, but now I don't think about him as much, is that bad?"

"No darling that isn't bad, your Dad would have wanted you to carry on with life"

"Would you ever get a new boyfriend Mum?"

"I don't know Gaby, not at the moment, I'm too busy and it wouldn't be fair on you"

"I wouldn't mind, well not that much anyway"

Rachel smiled slightly "Gaby I didn't just bring you in here to look at these"

"I know I kind of guessed" Gaby sighed

"I can't help but notice how much weight you've lost love"

"It's not that much" Gaby said sounding small

"It is though Gaby, this isn't just a diet is it?"

"Honestly I'm okay" Gaby said but her voice was breaking slightly

"How much weight have you lost"

"Just a pound or so"

"A stone or so more like" Rachel sighed "Why Gaby, you're such a beautiful girl, why do you need to lose all this weight?"

"I haven't lost much, I just want to get a bit healthier"

"Darling, you don't need me to tell you that this isn't healthy. You don't skip meals to be healthy, you exercise and eat sensibly"

Gaby didn't say anything just stared at the floor, tears filling her eyes

Rachel lifted her chin up gently

"Tell me what's wrong Gaby, whatever it is, we can sort it out"

Gaby looked into her Mum's gentle eyes, she knew she could trust her and she didn't want to carry on like this. In that moment all she wanted to do was open up about how much she was struggling.

She was just about to open her mouth to start talking when suddenly the door opened, and Amy walked in.

"Amy me and Gaby were having a private conversation, you can't just barge in, especially when my doors closed" Rachel scolded

"Sorry, auntie Mel's here"

"Well can it not wait 10 minutes" Rachel sighed, she'd sensed that Gaby was literally just about to tell her something.

"No it can't, she's crying"

Rachel rolled her eyes, Mel turning up at the house in tears was becoming a common occurrence and it always seemed to happen at the most inconvenient times. Poppy had only gone home yesterday and already Mel was back.

"Gaby we'll speak later okay"

Gaby nodded and Rachel went downstairs

Mel was at the door with Hannah, Mel was in tears and it looked like Hannah had been crying too.

"Mel what's up"

"I'm going away"

"What?" Rachel said "I though you and Mick were back on"

"Well not anymore, I'm going to see my friend in Spain, I got some cheap flights" Mel said "don't look at me like that Rachel, I need a break. Please, please have Hannah for me"

"How could you keep doing this you selfish little…" Rachel started "Your daughter needs you, she'd not some sort of parcel"

"Don't you think I don't know that, I'll end up topping myself if I have to keep going here though, I can't stand all this shit anymore"

"Oh don't be so bloody dramatic" Rachel shouted "you can't keep doing this, your daughter is your responsibility, no one else's, yours"

"Rachel please, just for a week"

"You know what fine, you go, have a nice little holiday" Rachel said

"Look Rachel, I promise when I get back …"

"You'll start taking responsibility for Hannah, you know what I don't want to hear it, I've heard the same old crap hundreds of times before"

"Rachel…"

"Just go Mel, and you know what maybe just stay over there eh?"

Mel didn't know what else to say and backed away.

It was only then that Rachel remembered Hannah was stood there, she instantly felt awful

"Hannah I'm sorry, you shouldn't have had to hear that" Rachel sighed "Has Mum packed you plenty of stuff huh?"

Hannah knew her Mum had only packed her a couple of bits as she was in a rush but nodded her head.

"Come on then love, come in, I'll get tea on"

Rachel noticed that Hannah seemed very quiet, she was normally so bubbly despite her Mum arguing with Mick all the time.

"Is pizza okay for tea?"

Hannah nodded

"Would you like a drink of anything?"

"No thanks"

"Oh love, I know it can't have been very nice hearing your Mum arguing with Mick, maybe some time away might do her good though and you don't mind staying here too much do you? Even it is a bit chaotic"

"I like it here" Hannah said

Rachel smiled "Go on then, go and unpack your stuff"

Hannah went upstairs and started putting her things away. She hardly had anything though, Mel had forgotten to pack her school uniform and had only packed a pair of pyjamas, some knickers and a top and trouser set, hardly enough to last her a week.

Hannah laid down on the bed and started to cry, she just felt so unsettled at the moment and felt like she wasn't wanted anywhere.

About twenty minutes later Rachel called them all down for tea.

Rachel had started to dread meal times, it was a constant battle of trying to get Gaby to eat.

Almost as soon as the pizza was put in front of Gaby, she started to play around with it and push it around her plate.

"Gaby just eat the flaming food" Amy said impatiently, she'd noticed the change in Gaby's eating too and wished it would stop

"Amy" Rachel said sharply, trying to keep the peace "Gaby just try and eat some please"

"No it's getting ridiculous Rachel, she's not eating at all, your starting to look awful Gaby, it's just all so stupid, you're going to end up anorexic" Amy said

"Gaby can't be that thin thing" Ivy said laughing "She's not skinny, she's got quite big legs"

"See I'm not skinny I'm fat" Gaby said tears forming in her eyes

"Gaby ivy's only little she doesn't know what she's talking about" Rachel said

"I'm not little" Ivy said indignantly "and I do know what I'm talking about"

"Ivy button in" Rachel warned

The rest of the meal felt really tense and everyone was quite glad when it was over.

"Gaby you've barely touched your food" Rachel sighed

"I wasn't hungry"

"You're never hungry" Rachel said "You were going to tell me something earlier, what was it?"

"Doesn't matter"

"Gaby talk to me, please" Rachel almost begged, but Gaby stayed silent

"I think we need to get you seen by a doctor" Rachel said

"I won't go"

"Gaby I'm not going to argue, I'm worried you might have an eating disorder"

"How can I have an eating disorder when I'm fat and don't say it's not true because it is" Gaby cried

"It's not true, have you looked at yourself, you're wasting away Gaby" Rachel said

"Leave me alone" Gaby said before going up to her room

Rachel felt tears form in her own eyes, she hated seeing Gaby like this and wished she could get her to open up to her.

Rachel cleared up from tea and then got Ivy bathed and into bed. Once Ivy was sorted she went into Hannah's room

"Hey love, sorry it's been so mad tonight, I know it can't be very nice for you"

"It's okay" Hannah said

"Do me a favour and put your uniform out for tomorrow"

Hannah remembered her Mum hadn't packed it, she was worried because she didn't want her auntie to get annoyed again, but she realised she had to tell her.

"Mum didn't pack my uniform"

"Ah" Rachel said "Well I guess I'll nip around to your house in the morning on the way to school, you'll have to get changed in the car"

"Sorry"

"Don't worry, it's not your fault" Rachel said "Wait what colour is your summer dress?"

"Red and white"

"oh fantastic, well you can just borrow Gaby's old one then, her school used to same colours"

"Thanks auntie Rachel"

"That's alright" she said smiling "I've ran a bath for you"

Hannah got in the bath, she felt really upset but wasn't sure why exactly, everything just felt so strange at the moment.

She stayed in there for ages and eventually Rachel came knocking

"Hannah are you okay love?"

"Yeah I'm coming out now"

Hannah got out and dried herself before getting into her pyjamas.

Rachel came through to her bedroom a few minutes later

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah"

"Do you want any water or anything bringing up?"

"No thankyou"

"Okay well, sleep well shout if you need anything"

Rachel gave her a quick kiss goodnight before flicking out the light.

Hannah felt quite restless, it took her ages to get to sleep. She woke up a couple of hours later and realised she'd had an accident in her sleep. Hannah felt mortified, she couldn't believe that she'd done this at her aunties house, especially when she was 10, she felt like such a baby. The worst thing was it had been happening quite a few times recently.

She sat in bed crying for a couple of minutes, before deciding to go and try and sort it out. She decided to go and wash her pyjamas out in the bathroom.

Shivering, she got up out of bed and walked across the landing. She got a shock when suddenly Amy and Rachel appeared at the top of the stairs

"Hannah are you okay?" Amy asked

Hannah didn't say anything, her cheeks burned red.

"What's up love?" Rachel asked

Hannah suddenly began to cry

Amy and Rachel exchanged glances

"Hannah what's happened?" Rachel asked crouching down slightly. It was only then she noticed the wet pyjamas.

"Erm Amy, why don't you go to bed love, I'll come and say night in a minute"

"It's okay Rach I'll just see you in the morning"

Rachel waited until Amy was out of ear shot before turning to Hannah

"Have you had a bit of an accident?" She asked gently

Hannah nodded

"And were you going to try and sort it all out in the bathroom"

Hannah nodded again getting quite hysterical now

Rachel did feel a bit shocked by all this, Hannah was 10 after all now, but she could see how upset she was and didn't want to upset her anymore by making a big deal out of it so was trying to stay as calm as possible

"Well that's very grown up of you, but that's what the washing machines for, come on my darling, lets go and get you all sorted"

"I'm sorry" Hannah cried, she could barely talk because she was so upset

"Hey don't worry, accidents happen"

Rachel took her into her bedroom and stripped the sheet off

"have you got fresh pyjamas out?"

"Mum only packed me one pair" Hannah sobbed

"Well not to worry because, I'll go and get some of Gaby's, they'll be a bit big but it'll be fine"

"No don't get hers, she'll guess that I need them because I've wet mine"

"No she won't, she's probably asleep" Rachel reasoned "I'll tell you what though, how about I get you one of my tops and you can use it as a nightie, would that do?"

Hannah nodded, she couldn't believe how nice Rachel was being about it

Rachel disappeared and came back a moment later

"There you go, now why don't you nip to the bathroom and get freshened up a bit and I'll nip this stuff in the wash, then you can come downstairs with me and I'll get us some nice hot chocolate before bed, bring me your pyjamas down and we'll put them in too and no one need know anything about it"

"Thanks auntie Rachel" Hannah said through tears "Did Amy see?"

"No darling Amy didn't see, and even if she did she wouldn't have said anything"

Hannah went off and got sorted and came downstairs a few minutes later

Rachel did want to have a chat with her as she was a bit concerned about what had happened

"Hey Hannah, come and sit down, I made you hot chocolate and one for me too"

Hannah went and sat down next to Rachel.

Rachel put her arm around her as she could see Hannah was still upset, but as soon as she did Hannah started crying again

"Auntie Rachel I really am sorry, I don't know why it keeps happening it's horrible"

"Love you've got nothing to be sorry for, it's something you can't control" Rachel said, "Is it happening a lot recently then?"

"Yeah"

"Look we don't have to talk about it, not if you don't want to, but if you do, you can tell me anything at all, I'm not going to be shocked or angry or anything at all, but if somethings upset you then I think it's important you've got someone to talk to"

"I just feel like no one wants me anymore and at night time it makes me feel really upset and then this keeps happening and Mum gets angry" Hannah cried

"Oh love, you could have told me sooner how unhappy you were feeling"

"If anyone at school knew they'd pick on me so much, I bet no one who's 10 still wets the bed except me"

"I'm sure plenty of people do, look I'm going to tell you something and it's in the strictest confidence, that means that I don't want you telling anyone else okay"

"Yeah"

"When Gaby was your age you know her dad, your uncle died didn't he?"

Hannah nodded her head

"Well after that Gaby used to wet her bed quite often for a couple of months and she was so upset about it at first, but it never used to be a big deal we'd just sort it and move on and eventually it stopped. When something upsetting happens often our bodies react in weird ways, and I'm guessing you've been feeling pretty upset lately and probably completely unsettled and so it's understandable love"

Hearing Rachel say this instantly made Hannah start to feel better

"So it'll stop soon?"

"Oh yeah I'm sure it will, and in the meantime, we'll just deal with it"

Hannah gave Rachel a big hug

"Thanks for not being angry"

"There's really nothing to be angry about" Rachel said "I know how strange everything is at the moment, but I think being here for a while might do you some good, give you chance to settle"

"And you won't tell anyone about … you know"

"I won't tell a soul, you just come and find me whenever you need to yeah"

"Thanks auntie Rachel"

"Things are alright at home aren't they"

"Yeah, it's just not nice when mum and Mick fight"

"I know love, but you know you're welcome here anytime don't you"

Hannah nodded her head in response

"Okay, how about we go back to bed?"

"Yeah, I feel quite tired"

"Come on then my love"

The two of them then walked back upstairs to bed

Rachel tucked Hannah back in and then went to bed herself, she was feeling really tired now.

All too soon the alarm went off.

It took them quite a while to get to school but eventually Rachel dropped off Hannah and Ivy and they drove to waterloo road.

When they got to school Amy and Gaby went off, so Rachel got her stuff out the car and walked off to the office.

She'd been getting on with some work when suddenly there was a knock on the door

"Yes"

To Rachel's surprise one of Gaby's friends Abi opened the door

"Hey Abi come in" Rachel said

Abi came in looking slightly nervous

"Is everything okay?"

"I was just wondering if I could talk to you about Gaby"

"Of course, you can, come and sit down"

Abi went and sat down on the chair behind Rachel's desk

Rachel wondered what this was about, Gaby and Abi were really close, so she was surprised that Abi seemed like she was about to tell her something about Gaby, that Gaby perhaps didn't want Rachel to know about

"What is it you wanted to tell me about Gaby"

"Well a few of us are a bit worried about her" Abi said, she took a deep breathe before saying "We think she might have an eating disorder"

Rachel didn't know how to respond to this, she knew that Abi must have to be really concerned to go behind Gaby's back and come and speak to her about this

"Okay" she said calmly "What makes you say that?"

"She never eats with us anymore, she just plays around with her food and ends up chucking most of it, and she just seems so different, like she's moody with us all the time and she keeps going really dizzy"

Hearing Abi say this just confirmed Rachel's fears that Gaby did have an eating disorder even further

"and well…" Abi said but then stopped

"Go on, it's okay"

"Well we think she's been making herself sick a few times too" Abi said "if ever she does eat properly she goes to the toilet straight after and we hear her throwing up"

"Have you tried talking with her about it?"

"Kind of, but she gets really defensive" Abi said "I know she's going to hate me when she finds out that I've been to see you"

"Well I'm glad you have and Gaby's very lucky to have a friend that cares about her so much" Rachel said smiling slightly

"We've just all been worried and thought you should know"

"Well thanks so much for coming to see me, honestly I really appreciate it"

Abi then left leaving Rachel feeling even more worried about Gaby.

She decided that she needed to keep an even closer eye on Gaby, she just didn't know how to help her, when she so obviously didn't want help.

When the bell went for lunch, Rachel decided to go down to the hall and eat in there with some of the other teachers, this way she could keep a subtle watch over what Gaby was eating. Rachel hated having to spy on her, but she felt like it was the only option now.

It didn't take Rachel long to spot Gaby. She was sat with some of her friends, but she wasn't really talking to them, she had ordered a salad from the canteen but had barely touched it and was pushing it around the plate.

After a while Gaby noticed her Mum starring at her, she suddenly got up from the table, pushed her salad in the bin and left the hall before Rachel had the chance to come over.

Rachel sighed but decided to catch up with her later.

Gaby was feeling awful, she hated the fact she felt like she couldn't eat but it had completely taken over her, all she wanted was to be skinny and she needed to feel in control.

The afternoon seemed to be dragging on and on, Gaby felt really headachy and dizzy. She was in English and they were getting one of their test papers back.

When Gaby got hers back she gasped when she saw how badly she'd done. English had always been her favourite subject and now she seemed to be doing badly in that as well as everything else. She tried hard to fight off the tears.

As soon as the bell went for the end of school she went straight out and decided to head back home, she couldn't face seeing her Mum or anyone else yet and just wanted some time to herself.

She texted Rachel saying she was walking home and headed off back.

The walk home was pretty long, Rachel had tried to call Gaby a few times, but she didn't want to pick up so just left it.

As soon as she got home Gaby went up to her room and closed the door, before getting onto her bed and bursting into tears. She didn't know why she was crying, she just felt really low.

About half an hour later Gaby heard the door open and everyone come in.

She was expecting a lecture off her Mum about the fact she'd gone off home by herself, as Rachel hated them walking because it was all on a busy main road and it was about a 40-minute walk.

However, when Rachel came into her room a few minutes later, she looked more concerned than angry.

"Gaby is everything okay? How come you didn't want a lift back?"

"I wasn't feeling that well, I wanted some fresh air"

"Have you been crying?" she asked gently

"No" Gaby mumbled

"Miss Koreshi came to see me, she said she thought you were upset about your English score"

"I'm fine"

Rachel paused for a moment and then sat down on the bed

"You're not fine though are you Gab" she sighed "You're not fine at all, Abi came to see me this morning, she tells me her and the rest of your friends are worried about your eating"

"she came to see you" Gaby said sounding outraged, she couldn't believe Abi had gone behind her back like this

"Yes, she did because she's your friend and she's worried"

"She had no right" Gaby said tears forming in her eyes

"Gaby when is this going to end, when are you going to let me help you"

"There's nothing wrong"

Rachel sighed but knew there was no point pushing it. She just squeezed Gaby's shoulder gently and then got up.

As soon as Rachel left Gaby started crying again. She was starving hungry. She looked at the collection of chocolates she had saved up in her room, they looked so tempting. Surely one would be okay. Gaby couldn't resist them anymore and tore off the wrapper and started to eat. Once she started eating she couldn't stop.

After she finished she instantly felt guilty, she knew what she needed to do.

Without a second thought Gaby rushed to the bathroom. She knelt down by the toilet and started to make herself sick. It was horrible, sweat started to pour down her face and her throat began to burn. After she'd finished she felt weak, she flushed the chain and then turned around to go and wipe her mouth and jumped out of her skin when she saw Rachel stood behind her.

"What the hell are you doing in here" Gaby said in shock

Rachel just shook her head in disbelief, although she'd been more, or less certain Gaby had been making herself sick she was still horrified when she'd followed her into the bathroom and watched her do it. She didn't know what to say

"I could ask you the same thing" Rachel said

"I told you I wasn't feeling well" Gaby said, she couldn't believe she'd been caught out "I had to rush to the toilet to be sick"

"Oh, Gaby cut the crap, I followed you into the bathroom, you left the door unlocked I watched you make yourself sick"

"Well okay, I was feeling sick but it wouldn't come out, so I had to make myself sick. It's no big deal"

"Gaby come on stop with the lies, there's no where else to hide, you've been caught out" Rachel said

Rachel thought that Gaby was going to storm off but she turned all white. Suddenly Gaby felt everything go blurry again, her head was spinning, and she started to fall but Rachel caught her before she collapsed

"It's okay I've got you" Rachel said quietly but Gaby couldn't work out what she was saying

Rachel put the lid down on the toilet seat down and got Gaby over to sit down on it

"Head between your legs" Rachel ordered

Gaby did as she was told and within a few minutes she started to feel a bit more alert so sat back up.

She started to shake rapidly, and still felt really confused and tearful.

"It's okay love, you went all dizzy like you did at school the other day, look your just in the bathroom" Rachel said, she knew that right now she just had to make sure Gaby was safe and it wasn't the time to lecture her about what had just happened

"Can I have some water?" Gaby said

"Yeah of course, give me 1 minute, I'll nip downstairs"

Rachel quickly grabbed some more water and took it up to Gaby

"There we go, small sips"

Gaby started to feel better after the water, so Rachel helped her back to her room.

She sat down on the bed with her and wrapped an arm around her

"Love we need to talk about all of this"

"Not now Mum, I'm really tired, can we walk later?"

Rachel sighed "Okay Gab, you have a little rest"

By the time Rachel had left Gaby was already half asleep.

Please review xxxxxx


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A couple of days had passed and things at the house were extremely tense. Everyone could see now quite clearly that Gaby had an eating disorder, however no one could get through to her or get her to open up. Meal times were a constant battle, Amy would shout at Gaby to eat, Rachel would try and stay calm, but this was becoming increasingly difficult, she just wished Gaby would stop all of this and start to eat normally again.

Rachel was at a complete loss as to what to do about Gaby, she just wished that she could help, but she didn't know how.

Gaby had become completely withdrawn from everyone, in just a matter of weeks she'd gone from being a bubbly, confident girl to someone who barely comes out her room. All she cared about at the moment was losing more and more weight. She couldn't bare to give it up because that would mean losing all control, she felt like she would feel completely lost without her restrictive diet, it had totally consumed her.

She'd also started to become more and more obsessive over school work too. Gaby had never been overly studious, however now she was becoming obsessive over things like homework and grades and was terrified of failing anything. She was just trying to strive for perfection.

It was a Friday afternoon and they were getting their science papers back from the exams they'd taken last week. After Gaby had been so upset about her English mark, she was praying science had gone a little better. However, when her teacher handed back her paper she realised it had gone even worse than English. Gaby couldn't believe it, her eyes filled with tears. She felt like such a failure. She felt like she had to leave the classroom, or she would pass out again. Gaby didn't even ask to leave she grabbed her stuff and walked out.

Her breathing was becoming really rapid and she could feel her chest getting tighter. She could barely concentrate at all; her head was completely foggy. She didn't know what to do. Suddenly all she wanted was her Mum. Although Gaby had no intentions of opening up to her about her eating, she felt really scared and panicky and knew Rachel would be able to calm her down.

Gaby could barely see, but somehow managed to get to her Mums office. She walked straight in.

Rachel looked up from her computer and saw Gaby in a real state. She looked like she was having a panic attack

"Mum .. I don't feel very well" Gaby said sobbing, sounding completely hysterical

Rachel rushed over and grabbed her hand

"Okay Gab, come on it's all going to be okay" she said calmly "here's what we're going to do I'm going to close this door so no one comes in, then we're going to sit you down on the sofa and get you calmed down"

Rachel carefully led her over to the sofa.

"Right come on my love, deep breathes, breathe with me" Rachel ordered, she was always really good at calming people down when they were having a panic attack

Slowly but surely, Gaby's breathing started to return to normal and she was managing to calm down a little bit.

A few minutes later Gaby felt really tired and floppy, she also felt quite nauseous too after the panic attack

"I feel sick" she mumbled

Rachel grabbed her bin and Gaby was sick into, Rachel held her hair back for her and rubbed her back

When she'd finished Gaby collapsed against her Mums chest

"Oh Gaby, I'm surprised you have anything left in you to sick up the little you've eaten these past few days" Rachel sighed, planting a soft kiss on Gaby's forehead

"What triggered that love?"

"I got a really bad mark in science" Gaby mumbled, she felt exhausted now and didn't really have the energy to speak

"Oh gab" Rachel sighed "Surely a bad mark in science isn't the end of the world"

"I wanted to do well" Gaby cried "I worked really hard"

"I know you did Gaby, but its only a silly test, it doesn't mean anything" Rachel said "And it's no wonder you can't concentrate on your exams when you're barely eating anything"

For once Gaby didn't argue, she didn't have the energy too.

Rachel sat and stroked her hair for a minute or so.

"Gaby how much weight have you lost, truthfully?" Rachel asked

"Not that much" Gaby lied, the truth was she'd lost over a stone now in such a short amount of time

Rachel sighed, she knew she was never going to get any truth out of Gaby

"Love, how would you feel about going to see a doctor, they might be able to put you in touch with someone you find it easier to open up to"

"No, I don't need one" Gaby said, knowing the doctor would try and make her gain weight, just as she was starting to finally get a little bit closer to the way she wanted to look

Gaby thought for a moment and then said "I guess I'm just missing out on some fresh air and stuff at the moment"

"Well yeah, your probably right Gab, staying cooped up in your room all day it really isn't healthy"

"Maybe I could go on your morning run with you tomorrow morning"

Rachel could see straight through this, knowing Gaby would just be wanting to burn more calories

"Okay" she said "Tomorrow we'll go running together but only if you eat all your tea tonight"

Gaby instantly started to panic at this, knowing that if she ate all her tea tonight that would mean consuming way over the number of calories she wanted to for today, but she also realised she needed to start exercising as well to burn more calories off. She thought maybe she could agree to eat it but then throw it up afterwards.

"I still feel sick though, I have been sick already today"

"You were sick because of your panic attack, but it's your choice Gaby, don't eat, don't run"

"What is for tea tonight"

"How about vegetable stir fry, there's nothing in that, that's going to make you fat, it's good healthy food"

"Okay"

"You can help me make it" Rachel said, "Are you feeling a bit better now?"

"a little bit"

"Have you got much homework to do this weekend?"

"Yeah quite a bit"

"Well how about you make a start on it now, just stay up here for the rest of the afternoon. I'll make you some coffee"

"Can I have it with no milk?"

Rachel sighed but didn't say anything and made her what she asked for.

The two of them then got on with some work quietly until the end of the day.

Rachel couldn't believe it when the bell rang, the afternoon seemed to have gone so quickly

"Right Gab, I've still got a bit of work to do unfortunately, do you mind staying?"

"No, it's okay" Gaby said, she was more than used to staying late with her Mum

"Ivy's staying at Grandma's tonight so I think she's picking her up from school, I've still got to pick Hannah up after after-school club"

"How come ivy's staying at Grandma's"

"She just fancied a sleepover" Rachel said "no doubt she'll be fed a load of sweets and stay up all night, which will mean she's shattered tomorrow"

Gaby smiled slightly

A while later Amy came up to the office, they had to stay for a little bit longer while Rachel worked and then they headed off.

"Rach did you see what I got in my English mock?" Amy asked

"No I haven't had the results of the year 10s yet, how did you do"

"I got an A" Amy said smiling

"Oh, that's fantastic, you worked so hard on it too, well done love"

"Thanks, can we get a bottle of wine to celebrate"

"No you're 14, I might let you have a tiny glass of wine with dinner and you can count yourself lucky"

Amy rolled her eyes

"Oi I saw that"

The three of them then got in the car and drove to Hannah's school.

"Are you two going to stay in the car while I nip and get her"

"Yeah"

Rachel then left to get Hannah.

While they were in the car Gaby suddenly started to get a really bad pain in her head, it was all behind her eyes too

"Gaby are you okay" Amy asked

"My head hurts"

"have some water" Amy said throwing her a bottle

Gaby opened it and started to sip

"You know it might have something to do with the fact you've only consumed about 10 calories today" Amy said making Gaby feel awkward

"No I haven't"

"Go on then what have you eaten?"

"I cant remember" Gaby mumbled

"Yeah right" Amy said "You look terrible Gaby, you've clearly lost a load of weight, you've barely eaten anything"

"Leave me alone, you're not my Mum"

"Well your Mums worried sick about you, it's so selfish Gaby, I can't understand why you would do this"

"It's alright for you you're naturally skinny, I'm ft so I've just got to work harder to stay healthy"

"Healthy?" Amy said shaking her head "Listen to yourself Gaby, you sound completely deluded, your becoming skin and bone"

"No I'm not" Gaby said tears forming in her eyes again "I'm still fat"

Amy was about to reply when Rachel came back to the car with Hannah. She could tell the girls must have had an argument but didn't want to say anything in front of Hannah

Rachel drove back home and it all felt a bit tense in the car

"How was school Hannah?" Rachel asked, she hadn't really had chance to speak to Hannah yet as she'd kind of rushed out of school

"Okay" Hannah said sounding a bit upset

"Has something happened?" Rachel asked

"No" Hannah said

"Are you sure?"

Hannah nodded her head, but Rachel could tell something had upset her, she decided to leave it for now though and talk to her about it back home when it was just the two of them

A minute or so later Rachel pulled up on the drive, as soon as she opened the door they ran in but Rachel stopped Amy

"Wait a sec"

Rachel then waited until Hannah and Gaby were out of ear shot"

"What did you and Gaby argue about in the car?"

"What do you think?" Amy said "I told her that she needs to start eating, you do realise she throws most of her lunch away every day, she's turning into skin and bone, she's dizzy and faint all the time"

"Don't you think I don't know that" Rachel snapped, it came out more aggressive than she'd intended, but she just felt stressed and tired "Sorry, it's just I'm so worried and I don't know how to help her"

"Can't you get her to a doctor"

"I've suggested It loads of times, but she doesn't want to go and I can't exactly drag her in kicking and screaming"

"I'm just worried, she looks awful and she acts completely different to how she used to"

"I know and I'm at my wits end about what to do" Rachel said "She's going to end up killing herself if she goes on at this rate"

Rachel and Amy talked for a little while and then Amy went upstairs to get ready

Rachel made herself a coffee and then decided to go up to Hannah's room. She felt bad because she knew Hannah was having quite a tough time at the moment, with her Mum being away and everything, but with everything that was going on with Gaby, Rachel felt that she hadn't really given her enough time.

She decided to go and get changed out of her work stuff first though.

She'd taken off her suit and was just in some jeans when there was a knock at the door

"yeah" Rachel shouted, as she looked for a top to put on, the door opened, and Hannah walked in

"Hey love, is everything okay?"

"Can I talk to you about something?" Hannah asked sounding a little nervous

"Of course, just sit on the bed for a minute while I finish getting changed"

As she went over and found a t-shit she could feel Hannah staring at her

"Auntie Rachel, when will I look like you do?"

"How do you mean love?"

"When will I get boobs?"

"Oh right" Rachel said laughing slightly "When you're a little bit older, though you probably are starting to develop a bit now"

"Does it just happen overnight"

"No darling, it's over a few years"

Rachel went and sat down next to Hannah

"it's funny, I was just about to come and find you and have a little chat"

"What about?"

"I thought you seemed a bit upset after school"

"I'm okay, they were just talking about stuff I didn't get"

"What do you mean?"

"What's a period?" Hannah asked "Is it something bad?"

Rachel was shocked by this, she thought it a bit strange that by age 10 Hannah had no idea about this, she thought Mel would have at least told her the basics

"What has nobody ever spoken about this with you before?"

Hannah shook her head

"Okay you and I need to have a little chat" Rachel said

She wasn't entirely sure how to approach this

"Okay, so over the next few years your bodies going to be going through some changes, as you turn from being a little girl into a woman and one of these changes is that about once every month you'll start having periods. So a periods when you start to bleed for about 5 days"

"Where do you bleed from"

"It's from near where you go to the toilet" Rachel explained

"Won't the blood go everywhere"

"Well you wear something called a pad, which you stick onto your knickers to stop it going everywhere"

"It sounds horrible"

"It's a bit strange at first, but you do get used to it, I promise" Rachel said "But what's really important is that you tell someone it's happened so that they can help you, it might be your Mum, or me but it might happen at school, but a teacher will always be there to help you If you need it"

"I'd never tell a teacher, I'd be too embarrassed"

"It might seem like that, but every woman has had to go through it, so there's no need to be embarrassed, it can seem a bit scary at first, so you need to have some support"

"I hope it happens here and not at Mums"

"Darling, your Mum would want to help you"

"No she wouldn't, she doesn't even like me that much" Hannah said starting to cry

It broke Rachel's heart hearing this and she put her arm around Hannah

"That's not true, your Mum loves you"

"Why does she never want me at home with her then?"

Rachel sighed, she didn't know how to respond to this

"She's just going through a hard time"

She stayed with Hannah for a little bit longer and then went to check on Gaby

She made sure she knocked before coming into Gaby's room, to her surprise she had put some makeup on and curled her hair

"You look nice love"

"Would it be okay if I go to Jess's for tea"

"Tea?" Rachel said raising her eyebrows slightly

"Yeah there's a few of us going round there" Gaby said

Rachel sighed, she wanted to keep an eye on what Gaby was eating, but she thought maybe if she went around to her friends she'd be more likely to eat something as she wouldn't want to seem rude in front of Jess's Mum, plus it was nice to see Gaby showing an interest in leaving the house.

"alright Gab well have a nice time" Rachel said "What time do you think you'll be back"

"Maybe about 8"

"Okay, see you later, text if you need a lift back"

"Yeah I will do"

Gaby then went downstairs and left

Rachel started to clean Gaby's room up a bit, she noticed that Gaby had left her laptop open on her bed and hadn't logged off.

She was about to close it down but then noticed a site that Gaby must have been on. Rachel couldn't believe it when she looked through it, it was full of loads of pictures of dangerously thin girls, there were loads of comment sections too with people posting about how to lose weight in secret. Rachel scrolled through Gaby's search history, it was all full of the same sort of stuff. She clicked through all the sites, all full of starving girls and diet tips.

"oh Gaby" Rachel whispered, she couldn't believe how serious this was all getting.

Rachel couldn't help herself from searching through Gaby's room, she wasn't sure what she was looking for exactly.

She went through her pyjama drawer and right at the bottom found a box of pills, it was obvious that they were slimming pills and had been bought online.

Rachel didn't know what to do, she wanted to confront Gaby right now but obviously she couldn't

She didn't know how to handle it, half of her wanted to go completely mad, she couldn't believe what Gaby was doing to herself but on the other hand she knew that this would make Gaby close up to her even more.

It was painful waiting for Gaby to come home, she just wanted to speak to her as soon as she could.

However, about half an hour later Rachel's mobile rang. She saw it was Gaby

"Hey Gaby, what's up"

"Rachel it's Jess's Mum, Gaby isn't feeling that well, she's all shaky and faint, I think she needs to go home"

"Right I'll be round as quick as I can"

Rachel quickly grabbed her coat and car keys

She found Amy downstairs in the lounge

"Amy, I need to go and get Gaby, she's not feeling well"

"Probably has something to do with the fact she hasn't eaten since yesterday"

"Can you take Hannah out to the park for me" Rachel asked "only for an hour or so, and call at the shop on the way back, get some salad to go with the pizza for tonight, I'll give you some money"

Rachel reached in her purse and gave Amy a fiver "get an ice cream for you and Hannah too"

"Thanks, Rach is Gaby going to be okay?"

"I don't know love, it's all getting a bit serious" Rachel sighed "Right I've got to go"

Rachel jumped in her car and went around to Jess's house

She quickly got out and knocked on the door

Jess's Mum answered more or less straight away

"Rachel thanks for coming, I'd have dropped her off myself, but Harry's taken the car"

"Oh it's not a problem" Rachel said "is Gaby okay?"

"She's feeling a bit better now, she just had a really funny turn, and she barely touched her tea because she was feeling sick"

Rachel rolled her eyes, knowing full well that Gaby not eating her tea would have had nothing to do with the fact she was feeling sick

"Right, well thanks for looking after her"

"Rachel, I know it's not my place …but I couldn't help but notice how much weight Gaby has lost and Jess has told me she's been a bit worried about her"

"Okay, thanks for letting me know" Rachel said forcing a smile "Is Gaby ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'll go and shout her through"

A minute or so later Gaby came through to the hall, her face was white, and she was still quite shivery

"Come on Gaby, lets go home" Rachel said

She helped Gaby to the car and got her in the passenger seat

"Sorry you had to come and get me Mum" Gaby said

Rachel didn't reply. The journey back home felt awkward as Rachel wasn't talking at all to Gaby.

When they got back the two of them went back in.

"Gaby come and sit in the back room with me please"

"I'm tired and I've got loads of homework, can't I just …."

"No come and sit in the back room like I asked"

Gaby knew better than to argue so went through with Rachel to the back room

Gaby sat looking really nervous

"So you managed to avoid tea at Jess's too did you?"

"I felt sick"

"Right, bit of a coincidence that you feel sick around every single meal time isn't it" Rachel said

Gaby just shrugged her shoulders

"How much weight have you lost Gaby?" Rachel asked, she knew she'd asked this question a lot and had never got a straight answer, but she was determined to get one this time

"a bit"

"How much?"

"I don't know, how would I?"

"Because you're on the scales about 5 times every day, now you've got a choice, you can either tell me or I'll bring the scales down and you can get on them in front of me"

"I don't know" Gaby said crying

"Right, I did give you the choice"

Rachel then disappeared and came back a few minutes later with the scales

"On you get" Rachel said

"You can't do this to me"

"I can Gaby, because I'm your Mum and I'm worried sick about you"

"Mum please don't make me" Gaby begged

"Gaby I'm not going to argue" Rachel said, she hated doing this to Gaby, but she didn't see how there was any other way

After a bit more arguing Gaby eventually got on

"Gaby, you must have lost about 2 stone now" Rachel said shaking her head "You must know that's not a healthy weight"

"Yes, it is"

"No Gaby, it really isn't" Rachel said

"It's not a big deal"

"It is a big deal Gaby, if you carry on the way you are you're going to end up in hospital or worse"

Gaby was clearly getting very upset, so Rachel sat back down with her

"Now, I'm going to write down your weight and I'm afraid I'm going to be taking it everyday to check you haven't lost anymore"

Gaby didn't say anything but continued to cry

"Gaby I know you're angry at me and you don't want help, but I'm doing it because I love you" Rachel said "Now, can you explain these to me" Rachel asked holding up the box of diet pills

"You've been through my things" Gaby said outraged

"Yes, you left your computer on and I saw the sites you've been going on, pictures of girls looking like they're about 30 minutes from death, tips on how to only consume 200 calories a day, do you think that's healthy Gaby?" Rachel asked, raising her voice slightly

"You don't get it" Gaby sobbed

"Then tell me, what is it that makes you want to do this to yourself? Because you know what Gaby I don't get it, you were a beautiful healthy girl, with so much going for you"

"The whole reason people didn't like me was because I was fat and now every time I eat I feel revolting. I just want to be thin" Gaby cried

"Gaby the reason people were so awful to you wasn't because you were fat it's because they are cowardly, scum and they were jealous of you, anyone could see that" Rachel said

"No, it wasn't" Gaby screamed through sobs

Rachel took a deep breathe, she could clearly see they weren't getting anywhere

"Right here's what we're going to do, I'm going to keep the pills, in fact I'm going to flush them down the loo, I'm keeping your laptop and phone for the next few days and I'm going to take the scales, the only time they'll come out is when I take your weight" Rachel said "and I've also booked a doctor's appointment for Monday morning"

"I won't go"

"You don't have a choice, it's not up for debate" Rachel said "I'm not going to sit back and watch you kill yourself"

Gaby didn't know what to say, it was so rare for her Mum to speak so firmly to her when she was upset, but Rachel didn't know what else to do.

"and you're going to eat something tonight, you're not going to leave the table till it's gone, and you can stay downstairs with me for 20 minutes after to make sure you don't throw it back up"

"Don't you trust me?"

"No Gaby, I don't trust you at all at the moment"

"Can I go and have a bath"

"Yes, but can you leave the door unlocked please"

"What, are you going to come and watch me every time I have a bath or go to the loo?"

"No, it's so I can check you don't faint in the bath, because it wouldn't surprise me"

Gaby rolled her eyes and went upstairs.

She ran the bath and got in. It felt nice to be able to relax without anyone bothering her.

Her Mum kept calling through every 10 minutes though to check she was okay.

Gaby had been in the bath for ages when Rachel shouted her down for tea.

Instantly she began to panic, she knew there was no way she could get away without eating today.

Gaby wrapped a dressing gown around herself and went downstairs.

Amy and Hannah were already tucking into their dinner. Rachel put a plate in front of Gaby, her portion was smaller than everyone else's but it still made her feel terrified

Slowly Gaby picked up her fork. She had a tiny bite. Instantly she felt guilty. She was finding it so hard to eat, it was the first time she'd had a proper meal in ages.

She tried a bit more, tears started to form in her eyes. She began to work out how many calories must be in all of it and panicked.

Before long Amy and Hannah had finished so went off

Rachel stayed at the table with Gaby

"Mum I can't eat it" Gaby cried

"Yes, you can" Rachel said firmly "and we're not going to leave this table until you do"

Gaby forced some more down herself

"Keep going Gaby" Rachel said

Gaby sobbed as she put more food in her mouth

It took her ages to finish it, but eventually it was gone. She felt so fat and disgusting, as if all the weeks she'd been dieting had been ruined.

"Right do you want to stay in here or go through to the lounge and watch tv"

"Can't I go to my room"

"Not unless you want me to follow you"

"Mum I promise I won't throw up"

"I don't believe you Gaby" Rachel said "Come on lets go and watch some tv"

Reluctantly Gaby followed her Mum into the lounge

After a while Rachel let Gaby go off

A few hours passed, and everyone had gone to bed. Gaby was still wide awake and was struggling to get to sleep, she couldn't seem to stop crying.

Gaby suddenly wanted her Mum, she felt scared and alone and knew her Mum would be able to make her feel better

She crept through to her room and woke her up

"What's up Gab" Rachel asked half asleep

"Can I come in with you?"

"Of course, you can" she said

Gaby slid into bed next to her Mum and Rachel wrapped her arms around her

"I'm sorry" Gaby cried "For making you so stressed"

"Oh Gaby" Rachel sighed "I don't want you to be sorry, I just want my happy, bubbly girl back"

"I wish I could stop but I can't" Gaby whispered, it was the first time she'd told anyone this

"Let me help you gaby, please" Rachel almost begged

Gaby didn't respond

"You know I love you so much" Rachel said

"Yeah" Gaby replied "I love you too"

Please review


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 **A lot of this won't be medically accurate, apologies in advance**

A week or so passed and things at home were pretty awful at the moment. The day basically revolved around Rachel trying to force Gaby to eat and Gaby point blank refusing. Over the last week or so Gaby had seemed to start losing weight even more rapidly. There had been a few more occasions where Gaby had fainted.

Rachel had taken her to the doctors on the Monday, the doctor seemed very concerned about Gaby and had mentioned that if her weight kept declining they would have to screen her for inpatient treatment at a specialist clinic. Gaby seemed terrified at the prospect of this, but Rachel was at her wits end and was starting to think maybe that would be for the best, she was petrified of Gaby getting any worse than she already was, she was starting to look skeletal. Rachel couldn't believe how serious all this had gotten so quickly.

The doctor had arranged some therapy for Gaby, but there was of course a waiting list. In the meantime, she had asked to see Gaby again on the Friday, she wanted to keep an eye on her until her treatment programme started.

Rachel was trying to act as normal as possible in front of Ivy and Hannah, as she didn't want this to affect them, however, both of the girls could clearly tell something was wrong with Gaby and were both feeling a bit unsettled.

Amy couldn't stand the fact Gaby wasn't eating and had made it very clear how she felt about it all, this only seemed to add to the tension in the house at the moment though.

It was a Thursday evening, and Rachel had just cooked dinner. Meal times were Rachel's least favourite times, she would sit at the table with Gaby until she'd eaten enough food, and there would nearly always be tears and arguments.

They were all sat at the table and Rachel was trying to make some conversation and take attention away from Gaby staring into space, cutting her food into tiny pieces.

"So how's everyone's day been?" She asked

"It was good, we got into a big water fight at lunch time" Hannah said

"Ah so that was why your school dress was all wet" Rachel said "Well I'm sure your teachers would have been delighted about that"

"She got really cross with us all" Hannah said

"I'm not surprised young lady"

"Rachel, when's Mum coming home?" Hannah said, secretly she hoped it wasn't going to be for a while, Hannah loved being at her aunties house even if there were a lot of arguments going on at the moment

"Erm, well she's home in 5 days I think, but you know you don't have to go home straight away, just see how you feel"

"Is she back with Mick?" Hannah asked

"I don't know love" Rachel sighed, she felt so bad for Hannah, she was such a sweet girl but very young for her age and needed a loving family, something she didn't get much of at Mel's. Rachel knew that Mel loved Hannah very much, but she would often snap at her or dump her at Rachel's whenever she needed a break.

"I hope she's not" Hannah mumbled quietly "Do you like Mick auntie Rachel?"

"Erm, yes I do" Rachel said, this wasn't exactly the truth, Mick wasn't the best man for Mel to be with in Rachel's opinion, but she didn't want to say this in front of Hannah.

"Auntie Rachel?" Hannah said

"Yes" Rachel replied feeling quite amused by all Hannah's questions

"What's sex? They were talking about it at school today and all laughing"

This caught Rachel off guard a bit, she really didn't want to get into this now especially in front of Ivy. She'd just about managed to have the growing up talk with Hannah, but she would really prefer not to get into all this with her, however she knew that at 10 Hannah id need to know some of the facts before she got them from someone at school. She couldn't believe Mel hadn't had any of these discussions with her.

Rachel noticed Amy laughing and glared at her.

"Darling, can we maybe talk about it a bit later?" Rachel said

"Why? Is it something bad?"

Rachel sighed realising Hannah wasn't going to let this one go

"No love it's … look I promise we'll have a proper talk about it later, when it's just the two of us"

"Okay, I'll remind you to tell me about it later in case you forget"

"Right" Rachel said, really not looking forward to this conversation in the slightest.

"How about you Ivy has your day been okay?" Rachel asked

Rachel was aware of the fact Gaby was yet to start her meal but didn't want to draw attention to it

"Yeah, it's been good, for my birthday could I maybe have a sleepover?" Ivy asked

It was Ivy's birthday in a couple of weeks' time, Ivy had been to a couple of sleepovers before and really enjoyed them, but Rachel wasn't sure about having them round here, 6 did seem very young still

"Maybe, I'll have to speak to their parents" Rachel said

"So, I can have one" Ivy asked sounding delighted

"I didn't say that, I'll think about it Mrs"

They continued to chat for a while, this was the first time in ages they'd all talked together at the table, Rachel realised that this was really important for the younger girls as she didn't want them getting caught up in this, she realised however she needed to get Gaby to eat

"Gab start eating your meal before it goes cold please" Rachel said sounding quite firm

Gaby very slowly started to eat

"Right girls do you two want to put your plates by the dishwasher and watch some TV for a bit, Ivy I'm going to run your bath soon"

Hannah and Ivy did as they were told, and then went off to the living room

"Rach can I go too?" Amy asked "I'd rather not stay for the soap opera that unfolds every meal time"

"Amy" Rachel said sternly

Rachel knew that Amy had no tolerance towards Gaby's problem, it surprised her because normally Amy and Gaby got on great and Amy was a very caring girl, but she just didn't seem to understand this at all

"Go on, you can go" Rachel said

Amy left, leaving Gaby and Rachel alone

Gaby was fussing with her food again, Rachel also noticed she was shivering

"Just me and you again then Gaby" Rachel said

Gaby didn't respond, just continued pushing her food around

"Pick up the fork and eat" she said sternly

"I'm not hungry"

"Gaby we're not doing this tonight, now pick up the fork"

Very reluctantly Gaby ate a mouthful, it pained her so much to eat. She hated herself more than ever before. She felt like her eating disorder had completely taken over her. She knew she was unwell and she badly needed help, but she didn't know how to stop it. She no longer had the energy to do anything, everything was an effort, all that mattered was losing more weight.

"Mum I can't eat anymore" Gaby cried

"You can, and you will eat more Gaby" Rachel said "You've got 15 minutes to get everything eaten"

Rachel hated having to speak so firmly to Gaby, but there was no other way to get through to her. Gaby was clearly physically unwell now as well as mentally, she had constant headaches, her skin was white, and she'd pass out at least once a day.

"I've had enough"

"We're not leaving till it's gone Gaby" Rachel said

Gaby forced some more down herself, she felt horrible. She'd stopped even feeling hungry anymore.

Rachel ended up spending the next 45 minutes getting Gaby to eat, she didn't fully finish her meal, but It was a close as she was going to get her to finishing it.

Gaby went off to her room after her dinner. Her headache was worse than ever, she tried to lie down but it wouldn't go away. She didn't feel with it at all, everything seemed blurry and she was shaking rapidly. She'd ordered more slimming pills off the internet after Rachel had confiscated the last lot and she's taken quite a lot of them earlier , ever since she did though she'd been feeling even more awful than normal.

About half an hour passed and Gaby was starting to get worried that something wasn't right, she was sweating loads and trembling, she also felt really sick.

Slowly she got up and walked across the hall.

Suddenly she bumped into Amy

"Amy I don't feel well" Gaby said, her speech was slurred

"oh my god Gaby, you look terrible"

"I took my slim pills earlier and I think I took too many" Gaby admitted, she was feeling pretty scared now as she felt awful

"Slimming pills are you stupid Gaby" Amy said sounding worried "How many?"

"About 8" Gaby said, she felt like she couldn't breathe properly, everything was spinning around. She was aware that Amy was talking to her but couldn't make out what she was saying, the trembling was getting even worse, suddenly she collapsed to the floor and everything went black.

"Rachel" Amy screamed "Come quickly"

Rachel had just finished tucking Hannah in when she heard Amy shouting, she quickly ran over

"Oh my god" Rachel said when she saw Gaby

Although Gaby had fainted a few times, it seemed different this time, normally she'd come around in a couple of seconds but she seemed completely out of it

Rachel knelt down and took her pulse, which was very faint

"She's taken a load of diet pills"

"she can't I binned all the pills"

"Well she must have got more, she's taken 8 of them but she was feeling ill before" Amy said crying

"Pass me the phone" Rachel said

Amy felt too shocked to move

"quickly" Rachel shouted

Ay jumped and ran to get the phone

Rachel rang for an ambulance, they promised they would be there as soon as they could

"It's okay Gaby, Mum's here, you're going to be okay" Rachel mumbled, tears running down her cheek

After what seemed like forever, the ambulance finally arrived. Rachel let them in and they went up to see Gaby.

They did some tests on her.

"Blood pressure is extremely low, we need to get her to hospital"

"Is she going to be okay?" Rachel said through tears

"We won't know till we get her to hospital, she's severely malnourished"

"Amy will you be okay looking after the girls" Rachel asked

"yeah. Ring me as soon as you know anything"

"Of course, I will"

They then took Gaby down and got her in the ambulance

Rachel stroked Gaby's hair, praying everything was going to be okay.

After about 5 minutes Gaby came around a little bit. She was startled when she realised where she was and started to cry.

Rachel jumped up and sat next to her on the bed she'd been put on, she quickly put her arm around her

"It's okay sweetie, you're on the way to hospital, you collapsed at home so we had to call an ambulance"

"Hi Gaby, my name's Megan. How are you feeling?" The paramedic asked

"Not good" Gaby said, her speech was still slurred and she started to shake again

Suddenly she felt really sick, she opened her mouth to tell the ambulance lady but ended up being quite violently sick

Rachel held her hair back and rubbed her back and Megan got her a sick bowl, but it was kind of too late

"Sorry" Gaby said

"Don't worry, we're more than used to it, they'll be able to get you cleaned up at the hospital. Now is it okay if I ask you some questions"

Gaby nodded, she was shivering loads, so Megan got her a blanket

"Mum says you've taken around 8 diet pills, have you taken anything else?"

Gaby nodded

"Okay, do you think you can tell me what else you've taken?"

"Laxative and some pills to make me sick"

Rachel couldn't believe this, she didn't realise Gaby had any more pills

"Right, how many did you take of each chicken?"

"5 laxative tablets and 3 of the other ones"

"How long ago did you take all these pills Gaby?"

"after school"

"So about 5 hours ago?"

Gaby nodded

"And Mums shown me the slimming pills, but do you know what brand the other pills were?"

"No, got them online" Gaby said sleepily

"okay lovie, and have you taken all these pills for weight loss?"

Gaby nodded, starting to cry again

"Alright my love, Mum do you want to take Gaby's hand, I'm just going to do a few more tests now she's awake"

Eventually they got to hospital, Gaby was taken through to one of the assessment rooms.

Gaby had fallen asleep, Rachel stroked her hair, she felt so helpless, she couldn't believe it had come to this, she felt like such a failure as a mother.

A little while later a doctor arrived. He spoke gently, and Gaby seemed to relax a bit. After he'd carried out some assessments he sat down. He also got a chair for Rachel and Gaby was laid on the bed.

"How are you feeling now Gaby?" He asked kindly

"I don't feel well still"

"You're suffering from severe malnutrition Gaby, that along with taking all the tablets has put a real strain on your heart, we've also found ketones in your blood, which happens when the bodies deprived of food, they're toxic to us and make us very unwell"

"Is she going to be okay?" Rachel asked sounding desperate

"Luckily yes, but she could have easily not been so lucky. It's my guess that Gaby's eating disorder has developed into anorexia nervosa" He explained "All we can do now is monitor her, but I think she's out the woods"

"So what happens now?" Rachel asked

"It's my feeling that Gaby needs some impatient treatment here, it might not be for long, but I think she'd benefit from some close supervision in the early stages of her recovery"

Rachel knew this was for the best, she was terrified that if Gaby went home now, she'd still refuse food.

"The team are amazing, we'll get Gaby the very best support possible and she'll be with other girls her age who know what she's going through"

The doctor spoke to Rachel for a bit longer before Gaby was taken up to her ward.

Rachel followed Gaby up.

She felt a little more relaxed when she saw the ward, it was nicely decorated, and the colours were all bright, overall it had quite a cheerful feel to it.

Suddenly though she saw a girl walk past, she looked to be around 13 years old, Rachel couldn't help but gasp when she saw her, her cheekbones were completely sunken, her arms were like twigs, it looked as though she was going to snap in two at any minute. Rachel hadn't thought it possible to be that thin and still be alive.

She started to worry that maybe Gaby being surrounded by all these girls, would only make everything even worse.

As soon as Gaby was settled into her bed she fell asleep again.

Rachel didn't want to leave her, but she was told that she'd have to go, in this ward they were really strict on visitors.

"When can I come back and see her?" Rachel asked one of the nurses

"Tomorrow morning at 9"

"How long do you think she'll be in here for, I'll have to bring her some stuff"

"It's not my place to say … but she's lucky she's been brought here at this stage"

"How do you mean?"

"Well with the majority of them, the girls aren't brought here till they are at a much lower BMI than Gaby's, it makes it so much harder to recover, Gaby's still in quite an early stage, that means it should be easier to help her develop a normal relationship with food again pretty soon. There's so much help on hand too"

"I hope she can put this all behind her, I've been so worried"

"It wont happen overnight, but with the right support, I have every confidence she'll get there"

"Thank-you" Rachel said, wiping away her tears

She then said goodbye to Gaby and left.

She felt totally exhausted by the time she got home.

After explaining to Amy what was going on, she went upstairs to bed.

Despite how tired she felt, it took Rachel ages to get to sleep.

When morning came around, she packed a bag up for Gaby.

Amy was brilliant with helping the girls get ready for school, the house felt so strange without Gaby though.

Rachel got breakfast ready and the girls all sat down

"Where's Gaby Auntie Rachel?" Hannah asked

"Well I wanted to talk to you two girls about that, Gaby isn't very well at the moment, she became very ill last night and had to be taken to hospital"

"Is she okay now?" Ivy asked sounding worried

"Not really, Gaby's going to be in hospital for a little while"

"Is it because she's not eating?" Hannah asked

"Yes love"

"Why isn't she eating?" Ivy asked

"Well because Gaby has a horrible illness at the moment, its called anorexia and it's where you think your fat even when you're not, it causes you to lose lots of weight"

"But Gaby's really skinny now" Hannah said

"I know love, but when you're anorexic you don't see yourself the way other people do" Rachel explained

"Will she get better"

"Yes Ivy, that's why she's in hospital, so people can help her to get better"

"So when she comes out will she eat normally again" Ivy asked

"Yes, well that's the aim, but it's going to be really hard at first" Rachel said

"Are you not going to work today auntie Rachel?"

"No love, I've rang in and explained I need to look after Gaby"

The girls had a few more questions and Rachel did her best to answer, before long it was time to drop them all off at school.

As soon as she'd dropped Amy off, she drove over to the hospital, she was a little bit early, but she hoped that they would let her in anyway.

It took her a while to find the ward, but eventually she did.

The nurse saw her and walked over. It was the same one from last night, she was just finishing her shift

"Hiya Rachel, Gaby's just eating her breakfast but you can go through as soon as she's finished"

"What, she's actually eating?" Rachel asked

"Yep, and without too much fuss either, I think she scared herself last night, it brought home how serious it is"

"Thank god for that"

"I mean, she's still got a long way to go, and it won't be easy, but I know she's going to make a full recovery" she said "She's become quite pally with one of the other girls, Pippa she's called"

"Do you think it's healthy, for her to be surrounded by all these thin girls, Gaby isn't as thin as them yet won't it just make her feel worse"

The nurse smiled "They need support from people their own age, going through the same thing"

The nurse chatted to Rachel for a bit longer and then it was time for Rachel to see Gaby

Rachel was surprised to find Gaby sat up in bed, reding her book.

She smiled when she saw her Mum and put the book down

"Hey darling" Rachel said, going over and giving her a hug before sitting down on the chair beside Gaby's bed

"did you bring some stuff over for me? I hate having to wear this hospital gown"

"Yeah I've brought quite a bit for you and I can always bring more over if you need it" Rachel said, "So how you feeling?"

"Okay" Gaby said, her eyes filled with tears though "It's just hard I can't believe I collapsed like that and …."

Gaby suddenly stopped, realising all the other girls could hear their conversation

Rachel could tell Gaby didn't feel comfortable

"Gab, do you feel well enough to go on a little walk?"

"Yeah"

"Right how about you go and get dressed and I'll speak to one of the nurses check it's all alright"

Gaby started getting dressed and Rachel went off. The nurse said it was fine as long as they didn't go far and were back within half an hour.

Rachel went back and got Gaby

"Come on then Mrs"

Gaby still felt a bit unsteady on her feet, so Rachel linked arms with her

"There's a costa just down here, fancy a coffee?"

Gaby nodded her head

"Right you get us a table, I'll go and pay"

Rachel got two coffees and a little pack of biscuits

She went over to where Gaby was sat, there was hardly anyone there, so they could talk in private

"You gave me such a fright last night Gaby" Rachel said, taking a sip of her coffee

"I'm sorry" Gaby said quietly "I'm really sorry for everything, after everything happened at school, I just got it into my head that I was fat, I thought I'd just lose a bit of weight, but then I got so obsessed with it all, I'd challenge myself to eat fewer and fewer calories every day. I was in control at first, but then it started to completely control me. I wished It would stop, I wished I could just eat normally but I became terrified of eating anything and I just didn't know how to stop it. And then I started taking pills, I thought taking the laxatives and diet pills would help me loose weight even quicker, but then I took too many and I felt awful"

"Oh gaby" Rachel whispered putting her arms around her "You've been so brave there, telling me all of that. I just wish you had felt like you could talk to me sooner"

"I wanted to, I just couldn't" Gaby said "Because I knew that, that would mean getting help and I didn't want it"

"And what about now? Do you want help now?"

"Yes, I want to get better. I was really scared last night, I thought I was going to die. One of the girls on here died a few days ago, Pippa told me, I don't want to end up like them Mum" Gaby cried

"Darling, I am so pleased to hear you say that" Rachel said "And you know I'm going to be here all the way don't you, even if things do relapse a bit I'm going to support you"

"Do you hate me Mum" Gaby cried

"What" Rachel said in disbelief "I love you to pieces, I've just been so scared"

"I promise I'll get better" Gaby said

"I believe you Gaby, but like I said you're not on your own"

"It's so weird In here, you can't do anything by yourself, they watch you really closely when you eat and you're not even allowed to go to the toilet on your own, in case you make yourself sick"

"It must be horrible" Rachel said, knowing she would hate to have someone watch her every second of the day "But they're only doing it to try and make sure you don't get any worse, everyone's in here because they're dangerously underweight and they have to make sure that you don't lose anymore"

"Well I'm not going to, I'm going to get better" Gaby said

"Oh Gaby, that's such a relief" Rachel said "I've bought us some biscuits, do you want one?"

Rachel wasn't sure if this was pushing Gaby too far, but to her surprise Gaby nodded her head

Rachel handed her one, and Gaby paused for a few seconds. Automatically she started counting calories and guessed how much fat would be in one. However, she then stopped herself. Nervously she brought the biscuit to her mouth and bit into it. Gaby smiled and took another bite, and then another, and then another, before long it was gone.

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	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A couple of weeks passed and today Gaby was due to come home from hospital. Rachel felt a bit nervous, Gaby had recovered so well and seemed to be back to her normal self, she just didn't want anything to unsettle her when she came home. She didn't know how to handle meal times, at the hospital they'd said to act as normal as possible and not draw any attention to her eating, but Rachel knew that this would be difficult.

Although Rachel had visited Gaby every day in hospital, she couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive about her coming home, she just hoped she'd keep up with the progress she was making, she couldn't bare it if things were to go back to the way they were.

She woke Hannah, Ivy and Amy up as it was time to drop them off at school. Hannah had been meant to be going back a week ago, but Mel had decided to stop another week, much to Rachel's annoyance. Hannah had really started to settle in now and although she felt awful for thinking it, she was starting to wish her Mum wouldn't come back so she could stay here forever.

Hannah seemed a bit reluctant to go to school today, however.

"Auntie Rachel I don't feel that well"

"How don't you feel well?" Rachel asked, not buying this as Hannah had seemed fine all night and she didn't look unwell

"My head hurts"

"Right" Rachel said

"So can I stay off?"

"Nope, you're going to school, come on up"

Hannah could tell there was no point trying to argue, so got out of bed and started getting ready

"You normally love going to school" Rachel said

"I just don't feel that well today"

Rachel rolled her eyes, she knew from experience when a kid was lying about being ill.

"10 minutes to get dressed then breakfast"

Hannah was really nervous about going to school today, she'd been really struggling at school recently and didn't want anyone to find out about it. She had a really nasty supply teacher at the moment who wasn't that supportive, she'd threatened to tell her auntie if she did poorly again on another test. One of the girls in her class had agreed to let her copy out her answers in a test yesterday, but afterwards had said that unless Hannah gave her £10 she'd tell her teacher about it

Hannah had been panicking all night about it, she didn't have any of her own money, but she couldn't stand the thought of anyone finding out she'd cheated. She'd ended up creeping downstairs last night and stealing some money out of her aunties bag. Now she felt really guilty and she was terrified that Rachel wouldn't want her to live here anymore if she knew about it, but she was also scared of what she'd do if she found out about the cheating.

About 10 minutes later Rachel came in again, she found Hannah sat on her bed

"Hannah, breakfasts ready, come down"

Hannah got up and followed Rachel down.

As soon as they'd finished having breakfast, Rachel got them all in the car and they set off for school

"Will Gaby be back when we get home?" Ivy asked

"Yes, I'm leaving school at about lunch time to get her" Rachel said "She might act a bit strange at first, she hasn't been home in a while, so just all do your best to help her settle"

"Is she still really skinny?" Ivy said

"Not anywhere near as skinny as she was, but don't any of you mention that she's put on weight, or that she looks different"

Rachel knew Ivy wouldn't say anything on purpose, but she just didn't want anything being said that might upset Gaby

When they got to the primary school Ivy got out but Hannah stayed in the back

"Hannah come on out" Rachel said

"I don't feel well"

Rachel sighed heavily

"I haven't got the time for this, get out" She said, a little more firmly

It took quite a bit of arguing to get Hannah to go to school but eventually she did.

When she got to work, Rachel started to get on with some paperwork.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Kim entered

"Rach sorry to bother you, we're collecting money for Jasmine's wedding"

"Oh yeah I'd forgotten all about it, god it's this weekend isn't it?"

"Yeah are you coming?"

"I can't, I wish I could, I just feel I need to be at home at the moment, especially with Gaby coming home"

Gaby's teacher had been told about her situation, so they could support her when she came back

"How's she doing?"

"She's okay, she's put a good amount of weight back on, I'm just worried about her coming home"

"I'm sure she'll be desperate to get back, all her friends are missing her"

Rachel smiled, it was true, she'd had lots of girls come and ask her how Gaby was getting on

"You know I'm here for you, and Gaby, if ever you think she could do with someone outside the family to talk to, then my office door is always open"

"Thanks Kim" Rachel said "Oh I'll get the money now"

Rachel opened her purse up, she was shocked when she looked inside, she knew she'd had exactly £20 in there last night

She tried to hide her surprise and handed Kim the other tenner

"Thanks Rachel, see you later"

As soon as Kim left Rachel checked through her bag again, it wasn't anywhere to be found.

Of course, Rachel had lost money before, but she was so certain that it had been in there and there was no way it could have fallen out, she knew someone must have taken it.

Obviously, it couldn't have been Gaby, and she doubted Ivy or Hannah would have taken it, so she couldn't help but suspect Amy.

She decided to confront Amy about it straight away

"Bridget what class is my niece Amy in please?"

"She's in English, room 201, they've got a supply teacher in"

"Ah thankyou"

Rachel walked across and knocked on the door

"Sorry to interrupt, can I have a little word with Amy please?"

"Sure, Amy out you go"

Amy was a bit confused as to why Rachel wanted to speak to her but followed her out anyway

"What's this about Rach?" Amy asked

"Amy, I'm going to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me"

"okay"

Rachel paused for a moment before saying "I'm missing £10 from my purse; did you take it?"

"What? No of course not, I would never steal from your purse"

"Well I really hope not young lady"

"Rachel, I haven't touched your bloody money" Amy said, getting quite angry that she was being accused of something she hadn't done.

"Well who has then?"

"How the hell should I know"

"Watch your tone"

"No because you're accusing me of taking it when I haven't touched it"

"All I'm saying is that it was there last night and now it's not and I know someone's taken it"

"Well it wasn't me"

"Right, if you say so"

"So you think I did it? Why would I need to steal it" Amy said, almost shouting now

"Calm down" Rachel sighed

"No I won't calm down when you're saying I've done something I haven't"

"Okay, I believe you" Rachel said, although she didn't entirely

"I can't believe you think I'd steal from your purse"

Rachel was about to reply when Amy stormed back inside

Rachel rolled her eyes before going back to her office

The morning seemed to drag, but eventually it was time to go and get Gaby

She drove over to the hospital and went up to the ward.

A smile spread across Gaby's face when she saw her Mum. She immediately got up and raced over to her.

"Hello darling" Rachel said wrapping her arms around her daughter

"Mum I can't believe I'm going home, I'm so excited"

"I'm so glad you're coming back, you look fantastic"

It was true, Gaby was looking healthier than she had in ages

Rachel had to go to a meeting with some of the staff to help arrange Gaby's outpatient care, and her transition back home

Finally, it was time to go back home

"Are you going back to work Mum?" Gaby asked

"No, I've told them I'm taking the afternoon off, I was thinking we get you unpacked and then maybe we could go into town, get some lunch, maybe do a bit of shopping"

"Yeah that sounds good"

"Just hope no one from school sees me"

Gaby smiled and then got in the car

"Mum I'm a bit nervous about going back to school on Monday" Gaby admitted

"Well you've got the weekend to get used to being home, I'm sure you'll be completely fine once you're back, it will seem a bit strange at first"

"Do all my teachers know why I'm off?"

"Nope, just me and miss Campbell, and you know that you've got to eat lunch with one of us for the next couple of weeks, don't you? The hospital was really strict about that"

"Yeah I know, but I promise I am eating normally again"

"I know you are, but it might just be easy to slip back into old habits when you're home and we need to make sure that doesn't happen" Rachel said "They've given me a calorie book to fill out, and I've got to record your weight every day, they said they'll ask for it when we go to your first outpatient appointment"

"Yeah they said" Gaby sighed

"hey, I know it seems like you're going to be followed around all the time, but it really is just to protect you"

"I know" Gaby said smiling slightly

They chatted some more on the way home

It felt a bit strange when Gaby walked back into the house, but she was glad to be away from the hospital

Rachel decided to give her a bit of space while she unpacked her things, as she didn't want to overwhelm her.

After about half an hour, she decided to bring her a coffee up

"Gab can I come in?"

"Yeah"

When Rachel came in she found Gaby on her bed, she noticed she looked a bit upset

She sat down next to her and handed her a coffee

"Is everything alright love?"

"Yeah" Gaby said but then started to cry

"Hey, I know it must seem weird coming back, you just need to take things slowly"

"It's not that, I just feel so bad for everything" Gaby said

"What do you mean love?"

"I just put you through so much, I can't believe what I must have been like. I didn't want it to get so serious, but I couldn't stop myself. I can't believe I almost threw everything away just to be skinny"

"Gaby, you must never feel bad for any of this, you had a mental illness and you've worked so hard to overcome it, I'm so proud of you" Rachel said "and you mustn't be so hard on yourself, even if you do go back to feeling how you were, it's bound to happen sometimes, but promise me you'll talk to me won't you"

"Yeah I promise" Gaby said, and she meant it

"How about we finish this coffee then drive into town?"

"Yeah that sounds good"

After they'd finished their coffees Rachel grabbed her bag and they got in the car.

It was a really sunny day, so Rachel had changed into her white summer trousers and floral top and Gaby was wearing her shorts and t-shirt

"Mum are we going on holiday this year"

"Well I was actually going to ask for your help with that, I really want to go away, maybe with grandma and Grandad, so I was thinking of having a look later, see if we can spot a nice villa somewhere"

"Yeah that'll be so good, I'd love to go to Cypress"

"That might be a good choice, we've never been before and the weather will be amazing, although it's felt like being abroad anyway these last couple of weeks"

When they got to town, Rachel parked up

"Can we go to the toilets first" Gaby asked

"Yeah I could do with going too"

They quickly found some toilets and went in

When Gaby went, she noticed she'd come on her period, she was shocked as she hadn't had one for a couple of months so thought they might have stopped.

Rachel had washed her hands so waited for Gaby

"Gaby is everything okay?" she asked, as she'd been quite a while

"Erm yeah"

"Are you sure?" Rachel called, as Gaby didn't sound too convinced

"Is it just you in here?"

"Yeah what's up?"

Gaby unlocked the door and stepped out

"I've come on my period"

"Oh Gab, that's fantastic, that was one of the things they talked about in that meeting, I've got to tick it off in the book they've given me because it's one of the signs your bodies getting back to normal"

"I haven't had one for ages"

"That's because your body hasn't been working properly. Love that's really good news" Rachel said

Gaby's cheeks were burning red, Rachel noticed this.

"Sorry, I don't mean to embarrass you, I'm just pleased that's all"

"Do you have any pads? I haven't got any with me"

"Yeah, in my bag" Rachel said reaching inside

"Here you go"

"Thanks"

"I'll wait outside for you"

A couple of minutes later Gaby came out

"Right lunch first then shop, or shop then lunch?" Rachel asked

"Shop first then lunch"

They went to new look first and Gaby saw a dress she really liked

"Mum can I try this on?" Gaby asked

"No, you cannot" Rachel said

"Why what's wrong with it?"

"Well it's so short it would barely cover your knickers, it wouldn't exactly leave much to the imagination"

"Amy wears dresses this short"

"Yes much to my annoyance and she's 2 years older!"

Gaby sighed heavily and put it back

Rachel shook her head but smiled, it felt good to be back with Gaby, arguing over daft stuff. Things were finally starting to feel normal again.

After quite a bit of shopping they decided to go to bella italia for lunch

It was so good to see Gaby tucking into her food again

"Mum could I maybe go to a party next weekend?" Gaby asked

"Who's party?"

"Just Josh's he's invited about 30 of us, he texted me while I was in hospital"

"I don't know Gab, you're only 12" Rachel said doubtfully

"Please, all my friends are going"

"Will there be alcohol?" Rachel asked, if there was there was no way she was going to let Gaby go, irrespective of whether her friends were going or not

"No of course not"

"Will his parents be there?" was Rachel's next question

"Yeah, it's not like a proper party"

"Well, maybe then" Rachel sighed, still not sure about this "Let's see how this week goes first"

"Do you like Josh?" Gaby asked

Rachel laughed "I'm not sure Gaby, he's just a bit young for me" she said sarcastically

"Obviously not like that, but do you think he's nice"

"Yeah he seems fine, can't say I've had that many dealings with him, which is normally a good thing"

"Oh"

"Why do you ask?" Rachel asked suspiciously

"No reason" Gaby said but she was smiling slightly

Rachel smiled to herself, guessing maybe Gaby had a bit of a crush on him

They'd been in the restaurant for quite a while before deciding to head out

They were heading back to the car when suddenly Rachel's phone rang

It was Hannah's school, they wanted her to come and collect her because apparently, she'd been sick

The truth was, Hannah wasn't really ill, she'd given her the money, but the teacher had seen it and then she'd had to explain everything to her. Her teacher was absolutely furious when she found out and said she was going to speak to her auntie about it at the end of the day. The thought of this had terrified Hannah, so she'd pretended to be sick at lunch time, so she'd get sent home before she had a chance to speak to Rachel.

Hannah was sat in her head teacher's office waiting for Rachel

"Don't think I don't know what this is about young lady" Mrs Hughes said

"What do you mean?"

Mrs Hughes sighed "Me and the other teachers do talk you know, Mrs Robinson told me all about what's been going on and I'll be speaking to your auntie myself when she gets here"

Hannah suddenly started crying, Mrs Hughes couldn't help but feel sorry for her, Hannah was such a nice girl and she knew she'd never do anything deliberately wrong

"Please don't tell Rachel" Hannah said sounding small "Mum's away and I don't want her to kick me out"

"Oh Hannah" she sighed, grabbing some tissues "Your auntie isn't going to kick you out, I'm sure she loves you very much"

"But I stole money from her"

"Yes and I'm sure she'll be very angry and upset over that, and she has every right to be, but once you explain what happened I'm sure she'll calm down"

"Please don't tell her"

"I'll tell you what, I won't tell her, but I need you to and I'm going to be checking tomorrow that you have"

Hannah was already dreading this conversation but at least she had a couple of hours till she had to think about it

"What I really don't get though Hannah is why you would feel the need to do it in the first place"

"Mrs Robinson keeps getting really angry at me because of my test scores" Hannah cried

"Oh right" Mrs hughes said, in all honesty she wasn't too keen on the supply teacher anyway, she'd never want any of the kids to feel bullied because they weren't doing very well.

About 5 minutes later, Hannah could see her auntie coming up the playground, she immediately began to feel worried and ran to the toilets to hide.

Rachel signed into reception and went through

"Miss Mason, Hannah's just nipped to the toilet, but would I be able to have a little word?" Mrs Hughes asked

"Of course, what is it?"

"Hannah's been a bit upset this afternoon, and I just wanted to warn you I don't think this illness is entirely genuine" She explained, she kept her promise to Hannah and didn't mention anything else that had happened

"Oh right, she was trying to get out of school this morning. Has something happened?"

Mrs Hughes sighed, she didn't want to lie but she had made Hannah a promise, and she did want to give Hannah the chance to explain herself.

"I'd ask Hannah about it"

Rachel was a bit confused by this, but before she had the chance to say anything else Hannah came out of the toilets

"Have you got your bags and stuff? Rachel asked

Hannah nodded

"Right, come on then you"

Hannah could tell Rachel was annoyed at her already, she hoped Mrs Hughes hadn't said anything while she'd been in the toilet

They started walking to the car and Rachel wasn't speaking

"Rachel, I feel sick still"

"Well you better go and have a lie down when you get in"

"Do you not believe me"

"No, you know what I don't believe you Hannah, you were trying to get out of school this morning"

Hannah didn't say anything to this

"Well you needn't think you're going to have an easy time of it at home, you can spend the afternoon doing your homework, and if you finish I'll find more for you to do"

"Okay" Hannah said sounding small

Hannah had forgotten Gaby was coming home today so got a shock when she saw her in the car

She went over to her and gave her a massive cuddle

"Hey Hannah, I've missed you" Gaby said smiling

"I can't believe you're home again"

"I hear you've been so desperate to see me you've skived off" Gaby said laughing

"Oi it's not a laughing matter" Rachel said "She's in real trouble"

Gaby nudged Hannah and rolled her eyes

Hannah felt a bit more relaxed with Gaby in the car as well

When they got home, Gaby headed straight for the back garden, she wanted to get a bit of a tan

Hannah tried to follow but Rachel stopped her

"Not so fast, go up and get changed, then you can get on with your work" Rachel said

Hannah went up and changed into some shorts and a top on, she began to feel really nervous about telling Rachel, but she knew she had to at some point soon, so maybe it was better to just get it over with.

She took a deep breathe and then walked downstairs and into the garden, where Rachel and Gaby were both laid

"Hannah I think I remember saying get changed and get on with some work" Rachel said

"I need to talk to you" Hannah said sounding scared

"What about?"

Hannah didn't really want to say in front of Gaby, she didn't want her to hate her too

Rachel could tell Hannah felt uncomfortable. She sighed, but got up and followed Hannah in, shutting the door behind her so they could talk in private.

"What is it you want to talk to me about?"

"I've done something really bad" Hannah whispered tears forming in her eyes

"What have you done?"

"I took £10 out of your purse last night"

"You took that money" Rachel said shocked "You stole money from my purse?"

Hannah just nodded

"Why on earth would you do something like that?"

"I cheated on a test because I knew I'd do badly If I didn't and a girl caught me and said she'd tell on me if I didn't pay her the money"

"So not only did you steal money from me, you cheated as well" Rachel said, her voice getting louder and sounding more and more angry

"I'm sorry"

"Do you have any idea how serious this is young lady?" Rachel said "Do you realise the sort of trouble you're in?"

"I know I shouldn't have done it" Hannah cried, she'd never really been in proper trouble with her auntie before and it wasn't very nice

"Too right you shouldn't have done it! I'm so disappointed in you Hannah, how the hell am I meant to trust you when you do things like this"

Hannah didn't respond, just stood there crying, wishing the ground would swallow her up

"Just you wait till your Mum hears about this"

"Don't tell her" Hannah begged, knowing her Mum would be 5 times scarier than Rachel when she got angry

"You really think it's up for discussion, just go and wait in your room, I don't even want to look at you right now"

"Am I still allowed to stay here"

Rachel didn't answer but then eventually said "I need to be able to trust you if you're going to stay here while your Mum's away and I clearly can't"

Hannah ran upstairs into her bedroom

Instantly Rachel regretted saying that, she wouldn't dream of really making Hannah leave, she just wanted to make sure she knew how serious it was

About half an hour passed and Rachel had started to calm down a little bit, she felt quite bad for making Hannah cry.

She waited a few more minutes before deciding to go up and see her.

However, there was a knock on the door causing her to turn around

Rachel was shocked when a policeman was at the door

"Hello, can I help you?" Rachel asked confused

"Are you Rachel Mason"

"I am"

"I'm police constable Morris" the man said showing her his ID "I'm afraid we have some bad news about your sister"

"What?" Rachel said panic starting to etch through her body

"She had an accident abroad and fell off a cliff while drunk, I'm afraid she passed away"

"She's dead" Rachel whispered, feeling as if she was going to be sick

"I'm afraid so, her bodies been formally identified"

Rachel just stood in shock, she could barely speak

The police officer stayed a little longer but then left Rachel in peace.

Rachel had to rush to the toilet to be sick, tears mixed with mascara were streaming down her face

Gaby had seen her Mum rushing to the loo, so went inside to check she was okay

Rachel hadn't had time to close the door

"Mum what's happened are you ill?" Gaby asked, shocked when she saw her Mum

Rachel flushed the chain and turned to face Gaby

"Your auntie Mel has died" Rachel said "She had an accident"

Gaby couldn't believe it, she too burst into tears

It was about half an hour since Rachel had received the news, she knew she had to go and tell Hannah. She'd wanted to wait until she'd calmed down as she didn't think it would do Hannah any good seeing her as upset as she'd been when she'd found out.

Rachel was absolutely dreading this conversation. Hannah and Mel had always had a few problems, but she knew how much Hannah loved her Mum really.

She took a deep breathe before going upstairs.

She knocked on Hannah's room before going in, she found Hannah upset sat at her desk trying to work

"Auntie Rachel, I have tried to do work, it's just really had" Hannah said "I'm so sorry about taking the money, please don't tell Mum"

Hearing Hannah say this nearly made Rachel cry all over again

"Hannah, I need to talk to you sweetie" Rachel said

Hannah was confused, her auntie seemed so different to how she'd been earlier, she didn't think she'd forgive her that quickly, unless maybe she was going to tell her she had to move out

"Please don't make me leave" Hannah said "I'll never steal anything from you again"

"What?" Rachel said, in the midst of everything she'd totally forgotten about earlier "No love, no ones going to make you leave"

"Am I still in trouble?"

Rachel just shook her head

"Will you come and sit on the bed with me?"

Confused Hannah went and sat with Rachel

Rachel put her arm around her

"Love, I've got some terrible news" Rachel said "Your Mum died earlier"

Hannah froze, she couldn't believe what she was hearing

"What?"

"Oh Hannah I'm so sorry" Rachel said starting to cry

"No, you're lying" Hannah screamed "Mum isn't dead you're a liar"

"Hannah I …" Rachel began

"Shut up, shut up, it's not true" She cried

Rachel tried to put her arm around her but she pushed her away

"Go away" Hannah shouted

Rachel stepped closer and Hannah started to cry and punch her. Rachel grabbed her arms, for a couple of moments Hannah tried to fight but then collapsed against Rachel and started to sob

"Hey, it's alright, it's alright" Rachel soothed, wrapping her arms tightly around Hannah

She brought her over to the bed and sat down with her

Hannah clung onto her as if she was a baby and sobbed violently into her chest

Rachel tried to soothe her, stroking her face gently

"Shh, it's okay, it's going to be okay" She whispered, but Hannah wasn't listening

They stayed like that for a good 10 minutes and then Hannah sat up

"What's going to happen to me?" she cried

"You know you can stay here"

"No I can't"

"What do you mean?"

"You said I had to leave because I stole money, I've got no where to go" Hannah cried

Rachel instantly felt awful "oh love, I didn't mean that, you're staying right here"

"I want my Mum" Hannah sobbed

Rachel felt a lump form in her throat, this reminded her of how Gaby was when her Dad died

"I know" Rachel said gently "I know you want your Mum"

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. Rachel had stayed with Hannah for ages but decided to give her some space.

She'd told the other girls what had happened and of course they'd been devastated.

Rachel had cooked tea, no one was really eating it though.

At about 8.30 Rachel took Hannah up to bed, she'd stayed with her as she'd fallen asleep, which to her surprise hadn't taken too long, but Rachel had a feeling she wouldn't stay like that for too long.

Sure enough, at about 11 when Rachel had just dropped off to sleep, she was woken up by Hannah crying out

She instantly ran into her room and flicked the light on

Hannah was sat up in bed, all tearful and sweaty

She wrapped her arms around Rachel and began to shake

"Rachel, where's Mum? I need Mum"

"It's okay, I'm here look you're just in your bedroom at my house"

"I want to be at my bedroom in Mum's house, I need Mum" Hannah cried

"I know you need your Mum, but I'm here" Rachel said, not knowing what else to say

"I feel sick" Hannah mumbled

Rachel was about to help her to the toilet, but it was too late, she was sick all over the bed

Rachel held her hair back for her

"Sorry" Hannah said "Can I have a new sheet to put on, I'll sort it out"

"It's alright love, l can sort it" Rachel said gently "can you stand up?"

Slowly Hannah got out of bed.

She stood shivering in her pyjamas

"You get a fresh pyjama top on, have a wash and then get into my bed, I'll sort this one out" Rachel said

She stripped the bed and bundled up the sheets

Hannah still hadn't moved, so Rachel helped her into a new top and then led her to the bathroom to get washed up

"Sorry" Hannah said again, shaking

"It's okay" She said "You go and get into my bed, I won't be long"

Hannah got into Rachel's bed, Rachel came up a couple of minutes later and got in next to her

"I stole from you earlier" Hannah said

Rachel was confused about why she was bringing this up, after all it was the least of her worried now, but she guessed Hannah was a bit confused

"It's alright love" Rachel said calmly

"Do you hate me?"

"No Hannah" she said "You know I love you so much"

Please review xxxxxx


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

10 days had passed since Hannah had received the news, she had found it extremely hard and still hadn't come to terms with it at all. The rest of them were all trying to stay as strong as possible for Hannah's sake, but Rachel was finding it all quite hard. The funeral yesterday had been especially difficult for everyone, Rachel thought that maybe afterwards everything would settle down and start to seem more normal again, but this didn't seem to be the case.

Hannah had felt completely unsettled at Rachel's house, even though she'd spent loads of time here before, it felt different now that she was going to be staying here forever, it almost felt like the four of them were a proper family already and she didn't want to ruin things.

It was a Sunday evening and they were all sat round eating tea.

Hannah had been in an awful mood all day, she'd been really snappy with everyone. This was so unlike Hannah, she was very young for her age and was normally so sweet natured but over the last week this had all changed.

"Hannah, after tea will you go and get your uniform ready for tomorrow love?" Rachel asked

"no, I'm not going to school and you can't make me"

Rachel sighed heavily, she'd let Hannah have the week off school, but they'd made an agreement that she'd go back this Monday, as Rachel didn't see how it was doing Hannah any good being in the house, and Rachel needed to get back to work herself, she didn't want to ask her Mum and Dad to look after Hannah as she thought this would be too much for them with everything they were going through.

"Hannah, we've spoken about this, it's not up for any more discussion" she said firmly

"Well I'm not going"

"You are going"

"You can't make me, you're not my Mum"

Rachel took a deep breathe "No I'm not, but I'm the one looking after you and I'll get into trouble if I don't send you to school"

"Well I wish you didn't look after me"

"I'm afraid there's not a lot we can do about that" Rachel said trying to stay calm "Eat your dinner please"

Over the past week Hannah had barely touched her food, Rachel hadn't said anything at first but now she was becoming stricter on it

"No"

"Eat it up Hannah" Rachel repeated

"I said no" Hannah shouted

"You're not going until it's all gone"

"I hate you, you're a bitch" Hannah shouted, she didn't really know what she was saying, it was just something she'd heard on TV once

Amy and Gaby gasped when she said it, neither of them had ever dared speak like that to Rachel before even when they'd had a really big argument with her, they waited to see her reaction. Ivy didn't know what it meant, but could tell it wasn't something very nice

"Hannah, leave the table and go and wait in your room please, I'll come and find you after dinner" Rachel said very calmly, knowing that she needed to cool down the situation before things got really out of hand. She didn't properly look at Hannah, she was staring down at the table.

Hannah got up and went upstairs. She collapsed onto her bed and almost immediately started crying, she didn't really hate Rachel, but she felt like she was betraying her Mum by being nice to her. She hated feeling like this, it was so unlike her usual self, she just didn't see how she'd ever feel normal again.

"Mum if I'd have spoken to you like that I think you'd have chucked me out the house" Gaby said

"She didn't know what she was saying" Rachel said simply

"I can't believe how differently she's acting, she's normally the sweetest little kid going" Amy said

"She's just lost her Mum Amy" Rachel said "Of course she's going to be feeling angry, we have to make allowances"

Rachel had let Hannah get away with anything at first, but now she was starting to clamp down on it a bit, because this behaviour couldn't carry on, irrespective of how Hannah was feeling she still needed to show some respect around the house.

After the girls had finished tea, Rachel cleared up.

She decided to wait a few more minutes before going up to Hannah's room.

Rachel knocked on Hannah's bedroom door, she still realised how important it was to try and respect her privacy

"Hannah I'm going to come in okay?" Rachel said

When she didn't get an answer, she opened the door.

She found Hannah sat on her bed, she'd clearly been crying.

"Right young lady, you and I need to have a little chat I think, don't we?"

"I don't want to talk to you, go away" Hannah mumbled

"Well tough because I want to talk to you" she said

Rachel grabbed the seat that was by Hannah's dressing table and put it next to her bed, before sitting down

"Okay, I'm going to make this quite clear, the way you just spoke to me was unacceptable and I'm not having it, not in my house" Rachel said "I do understand you're having a tough time at the moment but that doesn't entitle you to behave the way you have been, do you understand?" She was raising her voice a bit now

Hannah just nodded her head

"I do understand how you're feeling" Rachel said "But I can't allow this sort of behaviour, it's unfair on the others"

Hannah could feel her eyes welling up again, she bit her lip, she didn't want to cry in front of Rachel.

"Sorry" Hannah whispered

Rachel sighed "Hannah, you can talk to me you know, you don't have to keep it all bottled up"

"I don't want to talk"

"Okay" Rachel said, knowing full well she couldn't force her to talk if she didn't want to "But the bad behaviour stops now okay?"

Hannah nodded

"I'm going to put Ivy to bed now, do you want to come down and watch some TV before bed with us"

Hannah shook her head, she knew she'd just feel out of place sat with Amy and Gaby, the two of them were really close and she couldn't help but think they didn't like her being here.

"Okay, well do you want to come and finish your tea off?"

"I'm okay"

Rachel could clearly tell she wanted to be left alone

"Right well, light out an hour then, I'll come and check on you later" she said "And remember what I said, the behaviour needs to stop"

As soon as Rachel left Hannah started crying again, she ended up crying herself to sleep just as she had done most nights.

Rachel and the two older girls were sat downstairs watching love island.

"This show is awful, honestly it's the most stupid thing I've ever seen" Rachel said

The three of them would have the same discussion every night

"Rach it's so annoying when we're all trying to watch and all you do is moan about how awful it is" Amy said "You can't hate it that much, you ask us to pause it and wait for you every single night, and you were watching it by yourself when me and Gaby were out on Saturday, I came in and found you remember"

"No, I was not"

Although Rachel would never admit it, she secretly did love watching it and had ended up getting really addicted to it.

A few minutes later said "The language is absolutely appalling, Gaby I'm not sure you should be watching this"

"Mum you literally say this every night and always end up just letting me watch, just shut up they're about to do the recoupling"

"Oi don't tell me to shut up" Rachel said smacking her playfully

"You're doing my head in, just watch the show"

Hannah had woken up again at about 10, she'd had a nightmare and had woken up feeling all confused and scared. She felt really upset and couldn't calm herself down, she wanted her auntie, she couldn't stand being up here on her own

Hannah heard the Tv so made her way downstairs.

She opened the door and got a shock when she saw it wasn't just her auntie in there she thought the other two would have gone to bed.

When Hannah came in with her tears rolling down her cheek, Amy quickly muted the TV

"Hannah" Rachel said, shocked when she saw her

"Rachel, please can I talk to you" Hannah stammered, sounding really uncomfortable

"Yes of course you can" Rachel said, she now felt awful for not checking on Hannah earlier, it had just totally slipped her mind

Rachel quickly got up, sensing Hannah felt uncomfortable in front of the other two girls and followed her out, closing the door behind her

"Rachel, I'm sorry about before" Hannah cried

Rachel felt really sorry for her, she looked so young standing next to her.

"Alright darling, let's go through to the back room" Rachel said

Rachel took Hannah's small hand and led her through to the back room.

Hannah was sobbing quite a lot by now, Rachel put her on her knee as if she was Ivy's age again and tried to soothe her.

"Shh it's okay"

Hannah cried into Rachel for a couple of minutes and then sat up

"I had a bad dream about Mum and I woke up and I was really scared"

"That can't have been very nice for you"

"I miss her"

"Oh sweetie, I know you do, I miss her too" Rachel said

"I'm sorry for being nasty earlier" Hannah said

"Hey it's all forgotten"

Rachel stayed with Hannah for a few more minutes before taking her back up to bed

"Do you need to go to the loo before bed?" Rachel asked, since Mel's death they were having quite a bit of trouble with bed-wetting, so Rachel knew she needed to remind her to go.

Hannah nodded, so Rachel waited in her bedroom for her

Once she'd been to the toilet, Rachel tucked her back in properly.

"Night, my love, shout if you need anything, you know you can come into my room any time during the night if you need to"

A little while later Hannah managed to drop off to sleep.

The morning came around quite quickly

After their conversation last night, Rachel was expecting Hannah to be in a much better mood, however when she went into her room, it was obvious that this was not the case.

Hannah was adamant that she wasn't going to school today, so they ended up having an argument

"We talked about this last night, you're going to school and that's final"

"I'm not going"

"Get your uniform on" Rachel said

After a lot more arguing, Hannah eventually did put her uniform on although she certainly wasn't very happy about it.

Hannah refused to get in the car after breakfast and Rachel had to practically drag her in.

She was relieved when she'd finally managed to get her to school, but wasn't sure how well she'd cope today.

Sure enough, at about lunch time Rachel got a call from Hannah's school asking her to come and pick her up because there's been an incident.

Rachel sighed heavily, she didn't really want to have another afternoon off school as she'd only just got back, she decided to bring Hannah into school with her, thinking maybe it would teach her a lesson.

She grabbed her car keys and bag before heading off out.

When she arrived at school she found Hannah in reception.

Hannah saw her aunties face and realised she wasn't the least bit happy

"Rachel can we have a few words" Mrs Hughes asked

"Of course." Rachel said following her through to her office

"Well we've had quite a bit of trouble today, she kept running out of her lesson, was very rude to Mrs Robinson and at break time got into a fight with one of the girls in her class. Now obviously this is all very unlike Hannah, and we all do understand what a hard time she's been having, but I just can't have her in my school this afternoon, it's unfair on the other kids"

"Yes of course it is" Rachel said "No matter what's going on, it doesn't excuse this"

Rachel was looking icily at Hannah, she felt so annoyed with her

"Right, she's going to come to work with me, don't worry I'll make sure it's not a nice afternoon for her" Rachel said

"Actually before you go can I have a couple of words with you in private, Hannah go and wait outside"

Hannah went to go off, but Rachel stopped her

"Haven't you got something to say?"

Hannah didn't dare argue when her auntie sounded so annoyed

"Sorry"

"Outside now" Rachel said

Hannah walked out, closing the door behind her

"Rachel I'm sorry, I know it's a pain having to get her I just didn't feel comfortable keeping her here"

"No don't worry" Rachel sighed, she found tears prickling her eyes which she quickly tried to brush away, feeling really embarrassed, she hated crying in front of people

"Sorry, it's just that I really don't know what to do with her at the moment, she's awful at home. I tried to ignore it for the first week but now I can't just keep letting her get away with it"

"It all sounds like her way of coping, she's probably feeling totally unsettled, maybe acting up is just her trying to stay loyal to her Mum"

"How do you mean?"

"Well she might feel guilty about settling in at your house, she might feel like she's going against her Mum" she said "Sorry, I hope I don't sound like some sort of child psychologist"

"No not at all, it makes sense actually. I just hope she settles down. One minute she's acting like this then the next she'll be in floods of tears"

"I'm sure she'll settle over the next few weeks, she's just trying to cope with the shock"

"Well I'm still not letting her get away with today" she said, "What do you think about school tomorrow, good idea or not?"

"See how she is, maybe you could give her some work to do at your school, I think maybe she isn't quite ready for school yet, I've got some work for her to do" she said before handing Rachel some worksheets.

"Okay, well I'll make sure she realises she can't keep behaving like she did today"

Rachel then grabbed her stuff and walked out

"Right, come with me now" she said

Hannah could tell how angry she was by the tone of her voice

She didn't speak to her as she got in the car

"Put your seat belt on"

As they were driving back, Hannah realised they weren't going back home

"Where are we going, this isn't the way home"

"What? You thought you were going to act up at school and have a nice cosy afternoon at home, I don't think so, you're coming to my school"

Hannah didn't say anything, she could tell how angry Rachel was

When they got to school Rachel took Hannah up to her office.

"Do you have any idea how disappointed I am in you? I understand things are hard at the moment, but don't think for one second that gives you an excuse to hit another girl. It's completely unacceptable is that clear"

Hannah nodded

"Right, Mrs Hughes has given me lots of work for you" Rachel said reaching in her bag and grabbing some one of the sheets "Make a start on that please"

Hannah had a look at the sheet and started working out the answers.

As she was sat there, tears started to fall from her eyes, smudging the page.

They'd been in there for about half an hour when Rachel realised she had to go to the loo

"I'm going to the toilet, I'll be 2 minutes" she said to Hannah "Stay at that desk okay?"

Hannah just nodded.

As soon as Rachel left, Hannah got up. She ran out the office and out of the school door.

She didn't know where she was going, she just wanted to get away from everything. Her auntie didn't like her anymore, her Mum had died, she didn't feel as though she belonged anywhere anymore.

She went and hid behind some of the bike sheds and began to cry properly.

When Rachel got back to her office a couple of minutes later she was shocked when she saw Hannah wasn't there.

"Bridget where did my niece go?"

"She ran out just after you left, I shouted after her, but she didn't answer so I thought she'd gone to find you"

"You didn't see where she went?"

"No sorry"

"Right well she can't have got far, I'll have a look for her"

Rachel quickly went downstairs, it was only then that she stared to panic. She didn't have a clue where she could have gone. The school was pretty big after all.

She began to get more and more worried, she'd searched in all the likely places for her.

After about 15 minutes she still hadn't found her, she was nearly in tears now, she felt awful for being so hard on her earlier.

She decided to go back up to her office, grab her car keys and have a little drive to see if she could spot her.

Rachel had just got to her office when there was a knock at the door

"Yes" she said, hoping it was nothing important

She sighed when she saw Steph

"Steph not now I'm right in the middle of …" Rachel began but she soon stopped

It was only then that Rachel noticed Hannah stood behind her looking all frightened

"Someone to see you, I found her crying behind the bike sheds"

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief

"Thankyou" she said to Steph

Steph then decided to leave the two of them to it

"You had me worried" Rachel said to Hannah

"sorry" Hannah said

"come here" Rachel sighed

Hannah walked towards her and Rachel wrapped her arms around her

"What were you thinking running away like that? I was really scared" she said, however she didn't sound angry

"I didn't think you wanted me anymore"

"What? Oh love, come and sit down" Rachel said

Hannah went and sat on the sofa and Rachel sat next to her

"Now why on earth would you think that?"

"I don't know. I just think you were all happier without me and I've ruined things, and I feel really bad because Mum will feel angry if she sees I'm okay here and not with her, that's why I've been so bad" Hannah explained

Rachel felt a lump form in her throat hearing Hannah say all of this. "Why didn't you talk to me about any of this Hannah?" she asked gently

"I don't know"

"Well first things first, we love having you, you're every bit a part of the family. But I'm sorry if you've been feeling anything else."

"I just don't want to spoil anything"

"You're not spoiling anything love. I promise you that" Rachel said

"But I've been so bad" Hannah mumbled

"Sweetheart you've just lost your Mum, it's the worst thing you can go through as a child, it's no wonder you've been acting up. But what you've got to remember is that your mum would have wanted you to be happy, she doesn't want to see you like this" Rachel said

"So I'm allowed to stay"

"Of course, you are, you're not going anywhere no matter how naughty you are, you don't have to leave ever" Rachel said

Suddenly Hannah wrapped her arms around Rachel

"I love you" she said quietly

"I love you too darling"

Please review xxxxx


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A few weeks has passed by, and it finally seemed as though everything was getting back to normal. Hannah had settled in so much better now and was almost back to her normal self, of course she still got upset about her Mum every now and then, but she was back to being the sweet girl she was before.

It was a Sunday evening and Rachel was doing some work, she'd put Ivy to bed about 20 minutes ago, Hannah and Gaby were both doing some homework

Amy wasn't feeling very well so was in the living room on the sofa. She'd had a really high temperature all day and was also feeling quite sick. She'd been feeling really down over the past few weeks anyway; Amy had been seeing a guy a couple of years older than her for a little while and a month ago they'd decided to sleep together. Almost as soon as Amy did it she regretted it, she thought it would be different to that guy at the party, but it wasn't, it was awful. After they'd had sex he'd barely spoken to her and now she was feeling completely used and worse than that, her period was late.

She hadn't dared tell Rachel about it, even though she'd been quite nice in the end last time, she knew she'd go crazy if she made the same mistake again. She didn't know what to do, there was no way she could keep a baby at her age, but the thought of having an abortion made her feel terrible.

Amy couldn't believe how stupid she'd been, she hated herself for it, but he'd pressurised her into it so much.

Amy was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't notice Rachel coming in

"Amy, do you want some water love?"

"Yes please" Amy said "Rach I feel really sick"

"I wonder what could have caused it, you've eaten the same things we have so it can't be the food"

Rachel put her hand to Amy's forehead

"You're burning up with fever, I think we better get this blanket off"

"but I feel shivery"

"I know, but you're boiling. You're clearly not very well" Rachel said "We'll go to the doctors tomorrow if you're no better"

"Can I go upstairs to bed, I feel really tired and my beds comfier than the sofa"

"Yes of course, why don't you get changed into your pyjamas, I'll get you some more medicine too"

Amy got up and went upstairs.

Rachel watched her as she went, she'd been a bit worried about Amy recently, she hadn't seemed her usual sparkly self.

She got some paracetamol before going upstairs

"Amy can I come in"

"Yeah" Amy said

When Rachel walked in Amy was just in her underwear, suddenly Rachel spotted something on Amy's stomach

"When the hell did you get that done! And why have I not been told anything about it until now" Rachel said sounding horrified

She was referring to the belly button piercing Amy had obviously snuck off to get

Amy had completely forgotten about hiding it from her auntie, like she'd been trying to do so carefully over the past few weeks

"Oh erm … I got it in town with Emma and Sian" Amy said quickly putting her pyjama shorts and vest top on

"And you didn't think to ask my permission" Rachel shouted

"I thought you'd say no"

"Too bloody right I'd have said no, it looks awful and you are only 14 years old, it's illegal at your age without an adults permission"

"I'm 15 now remember" Amy said. She'd turned 15 last week.

"Don't you dare try and be clever" she said

"I'm not being clever, I'm just making a point"

"Well I'll make a point too then, you're a child in my house and you'll live by my rules, I don't know what on earth possessed you to get it done. I bet wherever you got it done isn't very professional, why the hell wouldn't they ask you for ID"

"We got it done at that little place near Poundland in town"

"Please tell me you're joking young lady, Amy do you have any common sense? That's the grottiest place going, they probably didn't sterilise the needles they used" she said sounding really angry now

Suddenly something clicked.

"Let me have a look at it"

"Why? Are you thinking of getting one?" Amy said sarcastically

Rachel looked daggers at her, causing Amy to promptly shut up

"I really wouldn't try and make jokes with me Amy, I'm warning you it's really not a good idea. Now show me the piercing"

Amy sighed but rolled up her top

Rachel looked at it and rolled her eyes

"Amy that's clearly infected, look t how red and swollen it is. It looks pretty nasty to me" Rachel said

"I thought that was just normal"

"No it's not, I bet that's what's been making you feel unwell" Rachel said "I can't believe you sometimes Amy"

Amy couldn't believe how big a deal her auntie was making this into, if she over-reacted this much to a piercing, god knows what she'd do if she found out she could be pregnant

"Rachel, it's really not that big a thing"

"Well it is a big thing, you snuck off and got it done without my permission…"

"Because you wouldn't have given your permission" Amy cut in

Rachel chose to ignore her "And you decided to go to about the most unhygienic place going and to top it all off now you've got a flaming infection"

"Oh yeah because I'm sure when you were a teenager you were perfect" my retorted

"This is about you not me"

"Well you're a complete hypocrite, I know you got a tattoo once when you were my age"

Rachel couldn't think how Amy would know this, it was one of the stupidest things she'd ever done, one night her and a group of friends got really drunk and got daft tattoos on their arms, Rachel's Mum had gone crazy when she found out and had made her save up to get it removed

"How the hell do you know about that?"

Amy just shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to tell Rachel that a couple of months ago, she'd accidentally found one of her old diaries and she hadn't been able to resist reading just a little bit. She'd only read a couple of pages because she'd started to feel really guilty

"Well that still doesn't excuse this" Rachel said "Take that thing out before it gets even more infected"

Amy rolled her eyes but did as she was told

"I feel really ill" she said, it was true she was starting to feel even worse

"Well who's fault is it that you're feeling ill" Rachel snapped

She couldn't help but feel a bit bad, she knew how easy it was as a teenager to go along with what your friends were doing

"I'll get you a doctor's appointment for tomorrow morning, they can have a look at you, they'll be able to prescribe some antibiotics" Rachel said sounding a bit softer now

"What about school?"

"Well it doesn't look like you'll be well enough to go does it?" she sighed "I'll come to the doctor's appointment with you but then I'll have to get back to school so it'll be a day on your own I'm afraid"

"I'm sorry Rachel" Amy said feeling a bit bad now

"You better be" Rachel said, however she didn't sound too angry now

"I'm going to go to sleep now" she said "I feel shattered"

"Alright love, well if you feel like you're going to be sick, please, please try and make it to the toilet, won't you?"

"Yeah, I won't have you cleaning up sick Rach don't worry" Amy said smiling slightly

"Yeah you better not" Rachel said "Night, night"

"Night see you in the morning"

Rachel then flicked her light out for her and closed the door

She then decided to put Hannah to bed as it was past her bedtime

"Hannah, time for bed now" She said

Hannah didn't argue and followed Rachel up, as she was feeling quite tired now anyway

Rachel had tucked Hannah in and as about to leave when Hannah stopped her

"Rachel do you think I need a bra?" She asked, cheeks burning slightly

Rachel was glad Hannah had brought this up, she'd noticed she'd started to get a little bit of a figure recently

"Yeah I think it's probably a good idea, you probably don't need a proper one yet, but we'll go into town one evening this week and get one"

"Does it feel weird?"

"It probably does feel a bit strange at first, but you soon get used to it"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course,"

"You know you told me about periods"

"Yeah"

"How old were you when you started your period?"

"I was quite young, I think about 10"

"So I might start mine soon?"

"Maybe love, but some girls are quite a bit older, but the most important thing is that when it does happen you tell me, okay?"

Hannah nodded

"And you know if you've got any questions at all you can come and talk to me don't you?"

Hannah nodded

"Okay, are you going to go to sleep now then?"

"Yeah I'm really tired"

"Night then darling, love you"

"Love you" Hannah said before turning over and closing her eyes

Rachel smiled before flicking out the light

The next morning, she spent ages on the phone to the doctors trying to get Amy an appointment. Eventually she'd managed to get one for 9am which was good because it would mean she could go to work straight after.

She dropped the other girls off at school and then headed to the doctors with Amy

"You don't have to come in with me" Amy said

"Well I want to know what she says"

After a while Amy was called in

The doctor was very friendly and examined the area where the piercing had been

She asked Amy a few questions, but realised she was behaving a bit weirdly

"Right I'm going to prescribe some antibiotics, these should make you feel better. I just need to ask a few more questions first"

"Okay" Amy said

"Do you smoke"

"No"

"Drink alcohol"

"Sometimes, only when I'm at parties"

"How many units would you say you had"

"I don't know"

"What would you normally drink at a party"

"Maybe a bottle and a half of wine" Amy said, avoiding eye contact with Rachel, who rolled her eyes and sighed

The doctor said"You do realise what that can do to your body at such a young age don't you?"

"Yes"

The doctor decided to leave it there

"Is there any chance you could be pregnant?"

The doctor noticed Amy looked uncomfortable now, but she shook her head.

"Thanks for seeing her doctor" Rachel said "I'll try and make sure there are no repeats"

"Yes you need to be careful with piercings, they can be really nasty when they get infected" She said "Amy could I just have a quick chat in private, it won't take long"

Rachel was a bit confused by this but stepped outside anyway

The doctor waited until the door was closed before turning to Amy

"Is there something you want to tell me now your aunties gone?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I asked you could be pregnant, I noticed you paused. Is there a chance you could be pregnant?"

Amy paused for a moment and then nodded her head

"Is your period late"

"Yeah by about 2 weeks"

"Have you taken a test yet?"

"No"

"I'd strongly recommend you do one, then you can go through your options. Why don't you make another appointment with me later, without your auntie, then we can discuss things properly"?

"Okay" Amy said sounding a bit scared

She then went out and met up with her auntie

"Why did she want to speak to you"

"oh it was nothing, just to tell me why I should be drinking at my age"

"Well she's right! I couldn't believe it when you said how much you drink, you always tell me it's just a couple of ciders"

"Rach don't go on I'm not in the mood"

Rachel decided to leave it for now

"Right, I'll drop you off back at home, are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"

"Yeah I'll be fine"

Rachel dropped her off back home

"There's loads of stuff in the fridge for lunch, so just help yourself to whatever you fancy"

Amy was barely listening to her, she knew she had to go and buy a pregnancy test before her appointment this afternoon, but she was so nervous to find out the result.

Rachel made Amy a cup of coffee and brought it over to her before heading out, realising she really did have to get back to school now

"See you later love"

"Bye Rach"

"Call me if you need anything"

"Yeah I will do don't worry"

Rachel then went off.

Amy's head was spinning she felt physically sick at the thought of having to do the pregnancy test. She knew it needed to be done though

She waited a few more minutes before heading out and walking over to Tesco.

It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for.

There was no way she was going over to one of the tills to pay for it, she went straight to self-services.

Nervously she walked back home

Thoughts were whizzing through her head, she was certain it was going to come back as positive, she knew she couldn't keep it but the thought of having an abortion terrified her so much, it seemed like a horrible thing to do.

It took a good 15 minutes before Amy finally built up the courage to go and take the test.

She burst into tears when the result came up a few minutes after she'd taken it. It showed that she was pregnant.

Amy couldn't believe she' got herself into this mess. She'd made such a stupid mistake.

She knew she'd have to have an abortion, but there was no way she wanted her auntie finding out about it.

Amy spent a good hour crying her eyes out, wondering what on earth she was going to do about it.

Amy had rung the doctors back and they'd managed to get her in at 2.

Eventually she decided to get ready for her doctor's appointment, she desperately needed some advice

Obviously, Amy didn't have a car, so it took her quite a while to get there but finally she arrived

She felt so out of place being there by herself, she sat uncomfortably in her seat until eventually she got called in

"Amy sorry I'm running a bit late take a seat" Dr Green said "Did you take a test?"

Amy nodded and then burst into a fresh flood of tears

Dr green quickly grabbed some tissues

"I'm taking it that it wasn't good news then?"

"I can't believe I'm pregnant, I'm such an idiot"

"Hey you're not an idiot, I've seen plenty of young girls in your situation before, you made a mistake that's all" she said calmly "Have you given any thought to what you want to do?"

"I can't keep it, I know it's so awful, but I need an abortion"

"It's not awful Amy, it's your body and your choice"

"Will my auntie find out?"

"No, but I'd strongly recommend you tell her, it's such a big thing to have to go through alone"

"I can't tell her" Amy said "What do I have to do next?"

"Well I'll need to examine you, this will me exactly how far along you are and then after I've talked you to the procedure and you're still certain you want to go ahead, then I can book you in for the termination. I'd imagine you're still in the early stages, so you'll go to the clinic and you'll be given two pills, one to be taken straight away and the other at home a day later, these will cause quite severe cramps and will induce a miscarriage"

Amy nodded, it all sounded so horrible

The doctor examined Amy and worked out she was about 6 weeks along

"How soon can I have it done" Amy asked

"We can get you seen at the clinic tomorrow, the sooner you have it done the better, you'll be considered a priority because of your age"

The doctor spent ages going through everything with Amy, by the end of it Amy was feeling a bit calmer about everything

It was only as she was walking home she realised she'd have to try and get another day off school, so she could go to the clinic tomorrow

She was a bit worried Rachel would be in by the time she got home and would be quizzing her about where she'd been. Luckily however no one was home.

Amy went straight up to her room and got into bed, she knew she'd have to lay the illness on thick, so Rachel would let her have tomorrow off

It was about 5.30 when Rachel eventually got home

"Amy" she shouted

When there was no answer she went upstairs and into Amy's room

"Hey love, are you still feeling rotten?"

"Yeah, I've been sick a few times this afternoon"

"Really?" Rachel said sounding concerned "I thought you seemed a bit better this morning"

"Yeah it got worse again"

"Maybe it's the antibiotics, sometimes they can make you feel awful when you start taking them"

"Yeah maybe"

"Sorry I was late home, Ivy's teacher summoned me in, apparently her and some of her friends were chucking water about in after school club" Rachel said rolling her eyes

"Oh, it doesn't sound too awful"

"Well that's what I thought, the way she was going on you'd have thought they'd had been plotting a murder in her lesson or something, talk about over-dramatic" Rachel said "Anyway she's banned them all from after school club for 3 days, which is just what I need because I'll have to pick her and Hannah up and keep them in my office while I finish my work"

"I can pick them up and walk them home if you want" Amy offered

"No, it's alright love, it's too long a walk, I don't really mind it's just a bit of a pain that's all" Rachel said "We're getting fish and chips for tea, do you want some?"

"Fish and chips on a Monday?"

"Well you need to treat yourself every so often, don't you?"

"I guess so, I'm alright though I still feel really sick"

"Okay, you're due your next tablet, I'll go and bring it up"

Amy stayed in her room most of the evening, she couldn't face seeing any of them.

She couldn't get to sleep at night.

At around 3 in the morning, she decided to get out of bed. She went over to the bathroom as soon as she'd closed the door she began to sob. She was terrified about tomorrow, she wished she could talk to Rachel about it but she knew how angry she'd be

She'd been in there a few minutes when suddenly Rachel walked in

"Rachel what are you doing?"

"Sorry, I thought you were Hannah or Ivy, I did knock" Rachel said "Oh love what's happened?"

"I just don't feel well"

"Really?" Rachel said, she went over and put her hand to her forehead

"Yeah I feel awful"

"Looks like it'll be another day off school for you tomorrow" Rachel said

She paused for a moment before saying "Are you sure there's nothing else going on?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, you've just seemed a bit quiet recently"

"I'm fine"

"You can tell me anything you know"

"Honestly I'm alright, I'm going to go back to bed"

Rachel watched as Amy went out, she was certain something was up.

Amy only managed to get about an hour's sleep.

Rachel had come in to check on her this morning, but she'd pretended to be asleep, she couldn't face talking to her, she felt so awful about what she was about to do

Everyone had left the house, so Amy slowly started to get dressed.

Her appointment was at 11, the clinic was about 8 miles away so obviously she needed to order a taxi.

The wait seemed to go on forever, however eventually it was time to go to the clinic

When she got there and went through to the waiting room, she suddenly felt really sick and had to dash to the toilet

After a little while she was called through

The nurse spent ages going through everything with her, before eventually administering the first pill.

She explained that she'd have to take the second pill about 4 hours later at home

Amy had to wait a bit longer at the clinic before being allowed to go home

Amy felt completely numb as she sat in the taxi on the way back home, she felt so awful about what she'd done.

When she got home, she collapsed onto the sofa and started to sob properly

At about 3 o'clock Amy realised she had to take the second pill, she quickly got it out and swallowed.

Her stomach was starting to really hurt now, and she felt sick. She'd started bleeding about an hour ago, so she knew it must be working.

About half an hour passed and Amy was in a lot of pain, she couldn't believe how bad the stomach cramps were, she thought it would just be like a period.

Rachel got in at about 4.30, she found Amy on the sofa

"Amy you look terrible" she said, rushing over "You're burning up again"

"I'm okay" Amy said "I'm just a bit sick"

"Well you don't look okay, I think we need to get you to a doctor" she said

"I said I'm fine" Amy snapped, the last ting she needed now was to go and see a doctor, knowing the reason she was feeling like this was because of the pill

"You're white as a sheet"

"I'm going to go and get some water" Amy said

She got up off the sofa, Rachel noticed the big red stain on the sofa and all over Amy's jogging bottoms

"erm you might want to go and change your trousers first"

Amy gasped when she realised she'd leaked everywhere, she couldn't believe how heavy the bleeding seemed, she'd only put a pad on about half an hour ago

"It's alright, it'll come off the sofa it's leather" Rachel said misinterpreting her gasp

"Sorry Rach, I didn't even realise, I'll clean it up"

"Don't worry about it, these things happen" she said "Go and get yourself sorted"

Amy ran upstairs and got changed into her pyjamas, she was a bit worried about the amount she seemed to be bleeding, she wondered if it was meant to be this heavy

Once Amy had changed she went downstairs

"Hey, I got you some water" Rachel said handing it to her

"Thanks"

Suddenly Amy got another stomach cramp, she doubled over in pain

"Amy" Rachel said sounding worried, putting down the knife she was using to chop up an onion and rushing over to her

"I'm fine, I've just got really pad period pains"

"Are you sure you don't think we should go to the doctors?"

"No I'm fine, I'm going for a lie down"

Another hour passed, and Amy was beginning to get really worried something wasn't right, the pain was almost unbearable and she seemed to be bleeding loads

Rachel shouted them all down for tea at about 6

Amy staggered downstairs.

She could only manage a few mouthfuls of her tea

"Amy if you've had enough just leave it" Rachel said

Suddenly Amy felt really sick again

"Excuse me" she said before dashing off

"Rachel Amy's bleeding from her bottom look" Ivy said

Rachel was shocked to see all the blood on Amy's pyjama bottoms, she couldn't believe she'd leaked twice when she didn't normally suffer with heavy periods

"Girls finish off your tea and then put the plates by the dishwasher" Rachel said before getting up

She followed Amy into the bathroom and held her hair back for her as she was sick

"Quick chat upstairs love" Rachel said when she'd finished being sick

She wanted to speak to Amy in private

When they got upstairs Rachel led her through to her room

"Amy your periods leaked again" Rachel said

"Oh, has it?" Amy said "It's really heavy this month"

Rachel looked at her suspiciously, she couldn't help but think Amy was acting weirdly

"Sort yourself out and then come through to my bedroom please"

Amy didn't know what to do, she could tell Rachel knew something wasn't right and Amy was starting to panic about the amount of pain she was in, she didn't want Rachel to find out about what she'd done, but she was starting to get really scared.

Amy got changed again and then went through to Rachel's bedroom

"Sorry about all the washing Rachel"

"Amy is there something going on with you that I need to know about?" Rachel asked, getting straight to the point

Amy knew she couldn't lie anymore, she nodded her head, staring at the ground

"okay what is it love?"

Amy burst into tears "I had an abortion earlier, and I think somethings wrong because I keep bleeding loads and I keep getting really bad cramps"

Rachel couldn't believe what she was hearing, she couldn't believe Amy had been through all this on her own, it was a massive thing for anyone to go through let alone a 14-year-old kid

"Sweetheart why didn't you tell me" Rachel whispered before wrapping her arms around Amy

Amy couldn't believe her aunties reaction, she thought she would have been furious

"I thought you'd hate me" Amy cried "I'm so sorry Rachel"

Rachel just shook her head in disbelief, she couldn't believe she hadn't known anything about this

"Oh love I can't believe you've been through all this alone, you could have talked to me, I'd have helped you out"

"I'm sorry" Amy said again

"How long have you known you were pregnant for"

"Only since yesterday for sure, I had sex with James about a month ago" Amy admitted "I thought we were ready, but then afterwards he barely spoke to me"

"I had no idea"

"I thought you'd be angry"

"I probably would have been angry to start with, but then everything would have settled down and I'd have been able to help you"

"Do you not think I'm an awful person for having an abortion" Amy sobbed

"No sweetheart I don't think you're an awful person, I think you're a young girl who had to make a very difficult decision" Rachel said

"I didn't want to, I just felt like I didn't have any other choice"

"It's okay Amy, I promise it's all going to be okay" she said

"How?"

"Because we're going to get through this … together"

"Everything hurts so much"

"That'll settle soon, though if you're worried I can take you to the walk-in clinic"

"I just didn't think I'd bleed so much, do you think it's normal?"

"Yes love it's normal, do you remember a while ago I told you I miscarried a baby?"

"Yeah, because Dad punched you in the stomach"

"Well anyway I remember how painful it was and the bleeding can be really heavy, I'll nip out and get some thicker pads for you"

"Rach why are you being so nice, I thought you were going to go mad"

Rachel sighed and crouched down next to her "Believe it or not I'm not a complete witch"

"Yeah I know but I just thought you'd be really annoyed"

"I don't think that's what you need right now is it? Look at some point we'll need to have a proper talk about it all, but not when you're feeling like this huh, let's concentrate on getting you feeling better first"

"I didn't use a condom when I had sex with him"

"Well yeah I did kind of gather that, if you did then this probably wouldn't have happened"

"It was so stupid"

"There's no point beating yourself up over it, what's done is done" Rachel said

Amy suddenly got another really bad stomach cramp

"Ow" she cried out

"It's okay" Rachel said rubbing her back "I'm going to nip out, see if I can get you something a bit stronger for the pain"

Rachel then went downstairs and grabbed her coat and bag

"Mum where are you going?" Gaby asked

"Just nipping to the shops to get some stuff for Amy"

"Can I come?"

"Well Amy's not very well so I need you to keep an eye on Hannah and Ivy for me"

"Hannah's watching Tv and Ivy's in bed they'll be fine"

"Yeah I guess so then"

Gaby and Rachel then got in the car

"What do you need to get"

Rachel thought it was probably a good idea to tell Gaby what was going on, she was bound to pic up on something anyway

"Am was pregnant, she had an abortion earlier, I didn't know anything about it"

"What?" Gaby said in shock "She was pregnant"

"Yes, and she feels absolutely awful, so we need to make sure we look after her"

"Is an abortion where the baby gets killed"

"Well … yeah sort of, but it's not really a baby at this stage love" Rachel said

"But it's developing into a baby, how the hell could you get rid of it"

Rachel sighed "It's a horrible thing for anyone to have to go through, Amy was in a really difficult situation, she couldn't have brought up a baby at her age"

"Well couldn't she have given it away"?

"It's really not as simple as that, carrying a baby is a massive deal"

"So is ending a baby's life"

"Look you're entitled to have an opinion Gaby, it might change as you get older, but what Amy needs more than anything else is some love and support not judgement, do you understand?"

Gaby nodded her head "Sorry, it just sounds so awful"

"Amy's been through a massive ordeal today, she's in a lot of pain"

"is that why she had such a heavy period"

"Yeah and you get really bad stomach cramps too"

"So Amy must have had sex"

"Well yeah"

"But isn't she really young?" Gaby said "I thought you had to be much older"

"Well ideally yes, but sometimes mistakes are made"

"How old were you when you first had sex"?

Rachel didn't really want to answer this truthfully

"Erm I don't remember"

"You must remember"

Rachel rolled her eyes "Okay well I was too young and so was Amy, sex is a massive deal Gaby and you want to wait till the right person comes along before you even think about it, never rush into anything you might regret"

"No fear, I think it's disgusting, why would anyone ever want to do it?"

Rachel didn't want to get into this now, she just smiled slightly and said "When you're older you'll see things differently"

"No I won't" Gaby mumbled

Rachel laughed "I'll remember that when you're older"

When they got to the shop Rachel got what she needed for Amy, the pharmacy a Morrisons was still open so she'd managed to pick up some co-codamol for Amy

Her and Gaby drove back home and Rachel got a hot water bottle for Amy before going upstairs

"Amy I've got some medicine for you" she said gently

"Thanks Rachel" she said groggily

Rachel ended up spending most of the night in Amy's room as she was obviously still very upset, but glad she had her auntie for support.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

A couple of weeks had passed and although Amy had been very withdrawn and upset at first, she was starting to get back to her usual self.

It was a Friday afternoon and Gaby had just come into Rachel's office

"Mum is it still okay if I go to Samantha's sleepover tonight?"

"Yeah as long as her Mum's definitely okay with it"

Gaby was really excited, there was 4 of them going around, they'd got some movies and were planning on having a proper girly night, one of the girl's sisters had even agreed to get them some alcohol to drink

"Yeah she is"

"Well that's fine with me then" she said "It'll just be me and Hannah in tonight"

"Why?"

"Amy's staying at Jess's and Ivy's staying at Molly's"

"That'll be nice for you then, why don't you see if Hannah can go to Grandma's, then you'll have a night all to yourself"

"No, I'm looking forward to it actually, Hannah's no trouble" Rachel said "Are you having tea at home or at Samantha's"

"I think at Sam's"

"You think?" Rachel said raising her eyebrows, she still was very cautious about Gaby's eating and always preferred it if she ate in the house, so she could make sure she'd eaten all her food.

"Mum just chill I'll make sure I have something" Gaby said rolling her eyes

"Oi don't roll your eyes at me young lady" Rachel said swotting her

"You roll your eyes at me all the time"

"Well because I've got bloody good reason to most of the time" She said "Now I've got a load of work to do so do you want to get on with some homework"

"For gods sake Mum it's a Friday, can't you have a night off"

"No I can't, have you seen the amount of paperwork I've got to do. I was planning to do it this afternoon, but I had to go and deal with your class acting up didn't I?"

"How is it my fault if my class acts up? I'm not the teacher"

"Well when I came in you weren't exactly helping things, you were flinging paper across to Poppy"

"Hardly a criminal offence is it" Gaby said sarcastically "What do you expect when the supply teachers crap"

"Mind your tone"

Gaby just laughed

"No I'm being serious Gaby, you don't talk about teachers like that"

Gaby sighed, her Mum was still in teacher mode and it was doing her head in

"Can't we just go home"

"Nope, it's either homework or you walk home your choice"

"I haven't even got any homework to do, it's only 2 weeks till summer no teacher gives out homework now"

"Well I used to"

"Why does that not surprise me?" Gaby said, "What should I do?"

"Oh, for god's sake Gaby you're not a child, can you not just entertain yourself for half an hour?"

"I'll go and see if Mr Thompson needs help with putting the instruments away" Gaby said sulkily before sloping off

"Oh I think he's gone home but I'm sure Mr Budgen would love your help" Rachel said

Gaby didn't reply and walked off

Rachel smiled to herself, Mr Thompson was the new music teacher, he was young and really attractive, she'd noticed a few of the girls seemed to have a crush on him, Gaby definitely being one of them

She was glad Gaby had gone off as it meant she could focus on her work for the next half hour

She's got so caught up in all her work she hadn't noticed the time and got a shock when she looked at the clock, realising she'd be late for picking Hannah up from after school club if she didn't leave now

She really quickly gathered her stuff up wondering why Gaby hadn't been back yet.

Rachel got a shock when she walked passed the cooler and saw Gaby in there with Grantly

"Gaby" she said confused

"Ah miss Mason" Grantly said "Perhaps you can help me out here"

Rachel forced a smile "I will always try"

"I found your daughter here running wild through the school, she was with Josh Shepherd, the two of them were being extremely disruptive. Am I right in thinking it is not our responsibility to ensure your children are supervised after school, or are we to assume we're providing babysitting"

Rachel sighed heavily, she really didn't have time for this

"I'm really sorry she's been disrupting you, unfortunately me and Gaby really do have to go now but she can do break time detention with you on Monday to make up for it" Rachel said, much to the annoyance of Gaby "Apologise to Mr Budgen and get your stuff together"

Reluctantly Gaby did as she was told and followed her Mum out

"Mum that's so unfair making me do detention, we literally weren't doing anything"

"Well it was either that or be stuck there for another half an hour, next time can you not just find a different classroom to flirt with Josh outside than his, you really think I enjoy the lecture he gives me about it"

"I wasn't flirting with Josh" Gaby said indignantly

"Come off it Gaby, I see the way you two are together"

"We're just friends, am I not allowed to have boys as friends?"

"As long as that's all he us young lady, you're far too young to be having boyfriends"

"You're so bloody embarrassing" Gaby said before storming off ahead

Rachel just laughed and walked over to the car

The two of them then drove off to pick Hannah up from her after school club

Luckily it was running a bit late which meant Rachel just got there in time to pick Hannah up

"Hey love, how was school?" she asked, taking her book bag off her

"It was good, do you know I'm coming to your school on Monday?" Hannah asked

All the year 6s were due to have their induction into secondary school on Monday

"Yep, you'll be sorted into your form groups and you'll get to meet some of your teachers, so it should be a good day"

"It'll be so weird when I'm in school with you" Hannah said

"Give it a couple of months and you'll hate it" Gaby said

"Do you fancy getting Chinese tonight Hannah?" Rachel asked ignoring Gaby's comment

"Yeah that'd be really nice"

"That's so unfair, I've been asking for a Chinese tea for ages and the second I'm gone you're ordering it" Gaby moaned

"Well you can always stay in and eat with us" she said

They drove back home, and Gaby went up to her room to start getting ready, she wanted to look nice, so they could get some pictures all together

She was just doing her hair when she saw that she had a text

When she looked at it she realised it was one of her friends asking if there was any way she could steal some alcohol from home

Gaby didn't know what to do, she knew her Mum would be furious if she found out about any of this but at the same time she didn't want to seem daft in front of her friends, she knew Rachel kept her bottles of wine in the fridge in the garage, she had quite a few so she didn't think she'd notice if she just took one. It would be a while before she noticed anyway because she'd use the ones in the main fridge first.

She crept downstairs with the bag she was taking for her sleepover and went into the garage, nervously she opened the fridge and grabbed one of the bottles

As soon as she'd got it she shut the door and ran out

About an hour or so later she decided to head to the sleepover so she went and asked her Mum for a lift round

They all got in the car and Rachel drove her to the house

"Bye love have a really good time. I'll come and get you tomorrow, just call me when you want to go"

"Bye Mum" Gaby said before going off inside

Rachel waved goodbye to Gaby and then drove off

"Right, are you hungry?" She asked Hannah

"Yeah I'm starving"

"Same, we'll stop off at the Chinese on the way home, what do you fancy?"

"Chicken curry please and maybe some salt and pepper chips as well" she said hopefully

Rachel went in and ordered, it took quite a while for It to come so Hannah got a bit bored waiting in the car.

As soon as they got home they got home they decided to get into pyjamas and put a film on while they ate their Chinese

As they were watching it, Rachel realised it probably wasn't the best film to be watching with Hannah, it was about a little girl whose Mum had died. After about 10 minutes Rachel noticed that Hannah was crying, though she was doing her best to hide it

"Should we maybe put something else on"

Hannah just nodded her head

"I'm going to get some wine, you choose something else while I go"

Rachel went into the kitchen and poured herself a large glass of wine before going back into the living room

She sat down, and Hannah rested against her

"What happens when you die?" Hannah asked

Rachel was a bit taken aback by this and wasn't entirely sure how to answer

"I don't know love, I guess it's a bit like going to sleep"

"Rachel do you believe in heaven?"

"Erm, well yeah I guess so" Rachel said, guessing this was about Hannah's Mum

"So do you think Mum would have got into heaven?"

"Yeah I'm sure she would have done"

"I hope so" Hannah said "Do you miss Mum?"

"Of course, I miss your Mum" Rachel said "I know we used to fight all the time, but I loved her very much still"

Hannah didn't say anything else, but Rachel put her arm around her

Gaby had been with all her friends for about an hour now and they were all having a really good time. They were eating pizza and watching love island.

"Should we start drinking?" Molly said

They were all a bit nervous, as they knew how much trouble they'd get into if they were caught, and none of them had really drank before

"I stole some of Mum's wine, we could try that" Gaby said, getting it out of the bag

Samantha opened the bottle and poured it into 4 glasses

Gaby sipped some and pulled a face "It's disgusting"

After just a couple of glasses of wine the girls started to feel weird, they weren't used to alcohol at all, so it didn't take much to make them feel tipsy

Before long they'd finished off Rachel's bottle of wine and had moved onto some Malibu

Gaby was feeling pretty drunk by now, as were the rest of the girls, they continued to drink more and more though

After about half an hour Gaby started to feel really unwell and had to rush to the toilet to be sick

After she'd been sick she started to feel quite a bit better so continued to drink some more.

It didn't take much longer before the girls were in a complete state

They started jumping on the bed and being really loud, so Samantha's Mum had to come up, as they'd all woken up Samantha's little sister

She knocked on the door before coming in

"Girls can you keep it down, Lily's just woken up"

As soon as she came in she could tell something was wrong, she stared around the room and noticed all the empty bottle. She gasped, she couldn't believe the girls had been drinking and she hadn't even noticed

"You've been drinking" she said sounding really angry "You're 12 years old"

"Sorry Mum" Samantha slurred

"How much have you all had?"

"Bottle of wine and a bottle of Malibu"

"I don't feel well" Gaby said clutching her stomach and then running to the toilet again to be sick

Samantha's Mum sighed, realising now she was going to have to have an awkward conversation with all of the girl's parents, including the head of her daughter's school

She decided to ring Rachel first to get it out the way

Rachel was surprised when she saw Sam's Mum calling her, but answered the phone straight away

"Hi, is everything okay?"

"Not really, there's been a bit of an incident"

"What sort of incident? Is Gaby okay" she asked sounding worried

"The girls have been drinking, all entirely behind my back I can assure you, but they've had quite a bit and Gaby's in a bit of a state"

Rachel couldn't believe Gaby would do this "I'll come and get her straight away, I'm really sorry about all of this"

"Thank you so much"

Rachel then put down the phone, she felt absolutely livid

She'd put Hannah to bed and didn't really want to wake her but she didn't really feel comfortable leaving her home alone, especially when Hannah would often wake up in the night and would wonder where she'd gone.

She gently stirred Hannah awake and explained they had to go out

Hannah sleepily got out of bed and followed Rachel downstairs.

The two of them then got in the car

Gaby had ended up passing out on one of the sofas, so Samantha's Mum was really hoping that Rachel would arrive soon as she was quite worried about Gaby

It only took Rachel about 5 minutes to drive round there.

Hannah had gone back to sleep so Rachel left her in the car and rushed outside

She knocked on the door and almost instantly Claire answered

Rachel felt sorry for her, she looked in a state about it all

"Rachel, Gaby's really not feeling well, she's through here"

"She'll be feeling even worse when I get my hands on her" she sighed

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea the girls were drinking" Claire said looking as if she was about to cry

"Hey it's not your fault, kids will be kids, they'll find a way to do it behind out backs" she said

Rachel went through to see Gaby

"Mum what are you doing here?" Gaby slurred

"What do you think I'm doing here" Rachel said icily "Get up"

Rachel had to help Gaby up, she was falling about laughing

"We had such a fun time and now you've come to ruin everything"

"Have you got any idea how much trouble you're in" Rachel said "I'm so disappointed Gaby"

Rachel had to practically carry her into the car as she couldn't walk

Once she'd got her in, she slammed the door behind her and got in the driver's seat

"I think we drank a bit too much" Gaby laughed "But I was funny"

"How the hell did you get alcohol in the first place?"

"Stole it from home"

Rachel just shook her head

"I feel sick" Gaby slurred

"I swear to god Gaby if you're sick in my car you will spend all of the tomorrow morning cleaning it up" Rachel shouted "I'm just so angry with you Gaby, have you got absolutely no common flaming sense, you're 12 years old for Christ's sake"

"Everyone else was drinking"

"I don't give a damn about what everyone else was doing"

Gaby still felt pretty drunk, but hearing her Mum shout at her like this was making her sober up a bit, she started to cry

"And don't for one second think turning the waterworks on is going to fix it, I've never been angrier with you"

Gaby continued to sob the entire way back

When they got home, Rachel carried Hannah inside and put her to bed before going back to the car and helping Gaby out

As Rachel was helping Gaby up the stairs, she suddenly grabbed her stomach and threw up all over the carpet

"Oh bloody hell Gaby" Rachel shouted "Could you not have waited"

When they got upstairs, Gaby rushed to the bathroom to be sick again, Rachel sighed heavily and held her hair back

She then started running the shower

"Put your head under the shower"

Rachel quickly gave Gaby's hair a wash

After she'd been sick, Gaby had started to sober up a bit and was feeling pretty awful about what had happened

She quickly got changed into pyjamas and got into bed

"Right drink all of this water" Rachel instructed, handing her the glass "It'll make you feel better in the morning"

Gaby did as she was told and then turned to face her Mum

"I'm really sorry, we just got carried away"

"It's going to take more than an apology I'm afraid, I just can't believe you'd be stupid enough to drink at your age, I expect so much more from you Gaby"

Gaby continued to sob, and Rachel couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her

"Come on, go to sleep, we'll talk more in the morning"

"Do you hate me?"

"Of course, I don't hate you" Rachel sighed "I'm just really disappointed"

Rachel stayed with Gaby until she fell asleep and then got ready for bed.

Both Gaby and Rachel woke up early the next morning

Memories of last night came flooding back to Gaby and she instantly started to cry, she couldn't believe how bad they'd got and hated to think about how mad her Mum was going to be today

As soon as Rachel had been in the shower, she got dressed and went into Gaby's room

When she went in she could tell Gaby was awake, although she quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep

"I know you're awake so you can stop pretending"

Reluctantly Gaby opened her eyes

"Get up and come downstairs, you've got 5 minutes"

Rachel then left and Gaby slowly got up, she was dreading what her Mum was going to say to her

She went downstairs and into the living room where Rachel was waiting

"How are you feeling?"

"Like crap, although you're probably happy about that"

"Well you deserve a headache after last night" Rachel said "Have you got any idea how stupid it was"

"Mum I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say" Gaby cried

"Why did you do it?"

"I don't know, Molly's sister was going to get something for all of us, but then we all brought something, we didn't know it was enough to get drunk"

Rachel sighed, at their age they had no idea what they were drinking and believed Gaby when she said she wasn't trying to get drunk

"It's just so stupid Gaby, you're far too young for all of this. It's so dangerous at your age" she said "You do realise why I'm so angry don't you?"

"Yes" Gaby cried "I'll neer do it again I promise, I honestly am sorry"

Rachel could tell Gaby did feel awful about it and didn't think it was fair to keep going on

"Right well, you're grounded for 2 weeks and I want your phone and ipad, you can use your laptop for school work and nothing else, are we clear?"

Gaby nodded

"Can I go now?"

"Do you not want some breakfast"

"Maybe some toast"

"Okay I'll do breakfast, you make us a coffee deal?"

"Yeah okay"

Please review xxxxxxxxx


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 **I might not be able to update for a while now as I'm going on a couple of holidays so will be away for about a month. Will try my very hardest to update while I'm away but I'm not sure what the wifi will be like. This chapter is also a bit shorted than normal, but I wanted to get a final update done before I go away so I didn't have time to write anything too long.**

It was a Thursday evening and Rachel was in Hannah's room putting some washing away, she'd been a bit worried about her all week as she'd seemed really quiet and just not herself, it had seemed to start after her transition day on Monday, so Rachel had wondered if something had happened there, but when she'd asked her about it she'd said everything was fine and she didn't want to push her

"Hannah, where did you put your PE kit, it'll need washing" Rachel asked

"Oh erm, I can't remember"

"Well that's not really very helpful is it? Come on where did you have it last?"

"At school" she said "I might have left it there"

"It's not doing a lot of good there is It huh" Rachel sighed "Make sure you bring it back tomorrow"

"Sorry"

"It's alright, it could have just done with a wash that's all" She said "So does it feel strange going into your last week at primary school, next week"

Hannah just shrugged

"Well we've got lots of exciting things happening over summer too, it's only about 10 days till we go to Cyprus with grandma and grandad"

"Yeah it'll be really good" Hannah said although she sounded a bit flat

Rachel continued to chat, but she could tell Hannah wasn't really in the mood for talking so left her to it

Hannah had been feeling pretty rotten all week, although everyone had been really nice to her on the transition day it felt so different to primary school and she was worried about how she was going to find the work. She didn't really understand why she'd been feeling all tearful throughout the week though, as it wasn't as if anything really bad had happened.

About 30 minutes later Rachel shouted them all down for tea

"Mum, can I please go around to Molly's tomorrow, her Mums doing a big BBQ for us all"

"Gaby you've asked me this about 20 times and my answers still no, grounded means grounded"

"You're so unreasonable"

"Don't even go there young lady, you're lucky it's not a hell of a lot longer"

"No one else's parents have grounded them for as long as you have" Gaby argued

"Well that's up to them isn't it" Rachel said

Gaby sighed but realised there was no way she was going to win this argument so gave up and ate her tea

They were all chatting quite a bit over tea, except Hannah who was sat quietly

When they'd finished they, all disappeared off while Rachel cleared up

Hannah was still at the table sipping her drink

"Rachel, I don't feel that well" she said

"How don't you feel well?" she asked

"My stomach hurts" Hannah said

"Do you need some paracetamol?"

"Yeah I think so"

Rachel got two tablets out for her and Hannah quickly swallowed them

"Has it just come on?"

"It's been hurting since I got in from school"

"Okay love, well maybe go and have a little lie down, see if that helps"

Hannah then went off to her room

The evening seemed to pass quite quickly, Ivy had gone to bed a while a go and Rachel decided to get Hannah into bed

When she went into her room she found her already changed into her pyjamas and in bed

"Hey love, I was just coming to tell you to get ready for bed but it looks like I needn't have bothered" she said smiling

"I felt really tired, so I got into bed"

"Is your stomach still hurting?"

"Yeah it's really sore"

"Well if you wake up during the night and it's hurting come and get me because I can get you some more medicine, you can't have any yet though"

"Rachel, you know when I go into secondary school, will me and Holly be separated for all our subjects?" Hannah asked, she'd been really upset on Monday when she found out she wouldn't be with her best friend

"Well you stay with your form group for all your subjects in year 7" Rachel said

She wondered if maybe this is why Hannah had been a bit upset recently, so sat down on her bed

"Has it been worrying you love, the fact you're not going to be with Holly"

"Kind of yeah" Hannah said "It's just going to be really strange, when we don't have the same teacher for all our lessons, it just seemed really big and weird"

"Well it's a massive change going from primary to secondary, but just give it a couple of weeks and I promise you're going to love it" She said

Hannah still looked upset so Rachel put her arm around her

"You know it might do you some good being away from your primary school friends, it'll give you the chance to meet new people" she said "But if you're really worried I can put you in a form group with Holly"

"Really?" Hannah said sounding pleased

"Yeah of course if it's going to make you feel happier about going" She said

"I'd really like that"

"I'll sort it out tomorrow then, but I've got no doubt you'll settle in straight away" she said "But you know I you've got any problems at all you can come straight to me don't you"

"Yeah, I'm just really nervous"

Rachel smiled, Hannah was such a sweet girl

"You're going to be absolutely fine I promise you" she said, kissing her on the cheek "and you've still got the whole of summer to prepare"

"I'm so excited for summer"

"Me too" Rachel said "Anyway, are you going to go to sleep now"

"Yeah, night Rachel"

"Night love" She said "Do you want your light left on for a bit?"

"Yes please"

"Okay but it needs to be off by 9"

"Yeah I know"

Rachel then left and went downstairs.

It took Hannah a while to get to sleep as her stomach was still hurting

She woke up quite early the next morning as she still wasn't feeling all that well.

Hannah realised she needed to go to the toilet, she got a shock however when she realised that her pyjama bottoms had blood on them.

Hannah gasped, she couldn't believe she'd started her period, she thought she'd be much older, she was really scared as she hadn't expected it at all and didn't really know a lot about them. She really didn't know a lot about them and started to feel really embarrassed, she didn't want anyone to know about it.

She started to cry a bit as she felt really shocked and didn't know what to do.

In the end she went back to her room and pushed the bottoms to the back of her drawer and grabbed her school stuff before going back to the bathroom.

She knew she had to get a pad but when she looked around the bathroom she couldn't see any

Suddenly there was a knock on the door

"Hannah are you okay in there?" Rachel called

"Erm yeah"

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked, she'd heard Hannah go to the bathroom, go out and go back, which seemed a bit strange so she wanted to check she was okay

"Yeah I'm fine"

"Okay"

Hannah didn't know what to do so in the end she just put some toilet paper in her knickers, got changed into her uniform and went out the bathroom

"what's all this, up early and changed into your uniform" Rachel said laughing

"I just felt hot in bed, so I wanted to get up"

"Yeah it was boiling last night wasn't it? Is your stomach still hurting?"

Hannah nodded her head

"You going to be okay at school"

"Yeah I think so"

"Okay, well maybe some breakfast will help"

The morning passed quickly and by the time they were all ready to go to school, Rachel was feeling quite stressed

"Oh shit I've forgotten my history book" Gaby said

"Oh for gods sake Gaby go and get it then, and mind your language!"

Gaby ran upstairs

Hannah was feeling really worked up now, she was nervous about going to school today in case someone found out. She began to think maybe it would just be easier to tell Rachel

"Rachel can I talk to you?" She asked

Rachel sighed "Love we're running late enough as it is, can it wait till later?"

"Yeah" Hannah said

Rachel felt bad, but they really were running late and she was starting to feel a bit stressed

They then dashed to school to get everyone in on time

As soon as Rachel got in she realised she had a stack of work to do

It was only when it got to about 11 that she finally started to relax

Hannah was feeling really uncomfortable at school, she still felt really scared and her stomach was really hurting now

All she wanted to do was to go home, especially now it seemed to be getting heavier

Her teacher was a bit worried about her as she hadn't seemed right all morning

She went over to her while the other were working

"Hannah is everything alright?"

"I don't feel well" she said

"Yeah you don't look that well, should we get your auntie to come and get you?"

Hannah just nodded her head

She had to wait in reception for about half an hour for Rachel to come over

"Hey love, are you still not feeling well?" she asked sympathetically

"I feel really weird"

"Okay, are you alright just to come to school with me and have a lie down on my sofa, or do you want me to drop you off at Grandma's"

"Come to school"

The two of them then drove back to Rachel's school and went up to her office

Hannah laid down on the sofa

Rachel kept looking over at her as she was doing her work, she noticed she looked quite worried and kept biting her nails

After about half an hour Hannah got up

"I'm just going to the toilet"

Hannah came back about 5 minutes later, and Rachel noticed that she must have been crying

"Love has something happened?" she asked sounding a bit confused

Hannah didn't know what to do, she felt really embarrassed telling Rachel but at the same time she needed some help as she was really scared

She nodded her head and anxiously bit her nails

"Do you want to tell me what it is huh?"

"Yeah"

Rachel closed her office door so they could talk in private and went and at on the sofa with Hannah

Hannah didn't know how to tell Rachel, she felt really nervous

"What's up?"

"I don't want to say" Hannah said before bursting into tears "It's really embarrassing"

Rachel put her arm around her

"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going to be shocked I promise"

Hannah took a deep breathe before saying "This morning when I got up to go to the toilet there was blood"

"Okay love, so do you think you might have started your periods?" she asked calmly

Hannah nodded her head

"Oh love you could have told me" Rachel said "It's not a very nice thing to have to go through on your own"

"I felt too scared, it's really embarrassing"

Rachel felt really sorry for Hannah, she was still so young so it must seem really strange for her

"It's not embarrassing, every woman in the world has periods at some point, me, Amy and Gaby all do"

"It's gone all on my knickers and everything" Hannah cried

"Have you been using a pad?"

"No just toilet paper"

"Well that'll be why then, it won't go anywhere if you've got a pad on, it'll feel a bit strange at first though, a bit like wearing a nappy"

"Is it normal for your stomach to hurt too?"

"Yes sweetie, that's unfortunately one of the things we've got to put up with as women" she said "I'll tell you what, it's lunch time now so do you want to go home to freshen up a bit"

"Yeah, do you have some pads"

"Yep we've got plenty back home don't worry"

The two of them then went home to get Hannah sorted.

Please review xxxxxx


	17. Chapter 17

It was the first day of the new school year and everyone was feeling a bit nervous, especially Hannah. Over the last few weeks she'd been acting really weirdly around the house and had barely slept last night because all she could think about was starting school. Rachel had tried her best to reassure her but she wasn't sure how well it had worked. Privately she was also feeling quite nervous about Hannah starting school, she was still quite young for her age and wasn't sure how she was going to handle being in secondary school.

When Hannah had changed into her new school uniform she went downstairs and found Rachel in the kitchen with ivy

"Wow don't you look smart" Rachel remarked, she had a feeling in a couple of months time Hannah's uniform wouldn't look quite so smart and a few rules would be broken.

A few minutes later Gaby and Amy also came down.

Rachel sighed heavily when she saw their uniforms, especially Gaby's.

"Girls I think you need to make a few adjustments, Amy you need a tie and blazer on and wipe the lipstick off. Gaby your skirts so short I can practically see your knickers, you've got way too much makeup on and the buttons on your shirt need to be done up"

Both girls rolled their eyes and sighed

"I mean it girls, go and sort it out, we don't want to start this year off badly on the first day!" Rachel said "Gaby if you don't sort that skirt out you can change into trousers"

Reluctantly the two of them went upstairs to go and sort their uniform out

They came down a couple of minutes later and although Rachel still wasn't exactly happy they were looking a lot better than when they'd first came down.

"Mum do we have to go to assembly first thing?" Gaby asked "or is it optional?"

"Tell me that's not a serious question, when has assembly ever been optional, of course you have to go"

"Can you please not make it drag on forever then" Gaby sighed

"Well if you're not in assembly you'll be in lessons so I don't know why you're so bothered"

"We won't be in lessons" Amy said

"Why where are you planning on going?" Rachel asked

"There's always something that's gone wrong with the timetables so we end up staying in our tutor groups all morning just chilling"

Rachel sighed, although Amy did have a point, nothing ever seemed to run smoothly on the first day back

"Do I have mr Dillon for maths?" Gaby asked

"I don't know Gaby funnily enough I haven't memorised each individual timetable out of the hundreds we've printed out"

"I hope I have him he's so fit" Amy said

"And he looks even better now he's had a hair cut, Lauren saw him in town and sent a picture to me the other day" Gaby said

"Well then Lauren can come and see me in my office" Rachel said "and if you don't pack it in the pair of you can join her"

"Come on mum, even you must see that he's fit" Gaby said laughing

"He's definitely the best looking teacher in school"

"No the new PE guy is pretty good"

Rachel couldn't believe the conversation she was hearing first thing on a morning

"Girls pack it in the pair of you, it's really inappropriate" she said sounding pretty strict, she was feeling tense enough already without having to put up with a load of adolescent nonsense.

Hannah was too nervous to eat breakfast, she was just playing around with it.

Suddenly her stomach started to feel really funny so she got up to dash to the toilet

"What's up with her?" Amy asked

"Well it's her first day at secondary school so she's probably feeling a little bit nervous and I don't think you two are helping" Rachel sighed "just calm down a bit will you?"

She then got up to go and check on Hannah

She knocked on the bathroom door

"Hannah it's just me, is everything alright?" She asked

Hannah came out about a minute later.

"I don't think I can go to school today" she said

"Why not?" Rachel asked

"I've got a really sore stomach, that's why I had to go to the toilet"

Rachel crouched down slightly and put her arm around her

"It's just nerves darling I promise you" she said "you'll be absolutely fine once we get there"

"I won't know where anything is" Hannah said "I don't understand the map thing we've been given"

"Well luckily I happen to know the place pretty well by now" Rachel said laughing slightly "come on it's going to be okay, you'll have a great time"

"Will I have to call you miss at school?" Hannah asked

"When we're around other people I'd expect you to" Rachel said smiling slightly

"That'll be so weird"

"You'll get used to it soon enough"

Hannah still felt sick at the thought of today but knew she didn't really have a choice about going in.

About 10 minutes later it was time to leave so they all got in the car

Rachel dropped ivy off first, it made Hannah feel weird seeing her old school, she wished she was still there

When they pulled up at school Hannah felt even more nervous. Rachel looked at her in the mirror and could see she was really scared, she looked on the verge of tears.

"Right, off you go then girls" she said to Gaby and Amy "have a good day"

Gaby and Amy got straight out the car and walked off, leaving Rachel and Hannah alone

"Are you okay?' She asked

Hannah just nodded her head. Rachel realised it would be better for them to just go in, the longer they spent hanging round the worse Hannah would feel

"Come on then you, let's get going" she said calmly "you're in miss James' tutor group aren't you? I'll show you where to go and then she'll take you all to assembly"

Hannah got out the car and followed Rachel in, it all felt so overwhelming for her, everyone seemed so loud and boisterous

Rachel guided her through the crowds of kids and showed her where to go

"Okay I'll see you in assembly in just a few minutes, if there's any problems you come straight to me"

Rachel squeezed her shoulder and then walked off. She felt bad leaving her but she knew Hannah would settle in quicker if she wasn't around.

Hannah stared around the classroom, there were some people already there, however they were all chatting in small groups, they seemed to know each other already, she didn't feel comfortable going over to them. She sat down by herself, she felt close to tears but tried her hardest not to cry. Her friend from primary school who was meant to be in her form had dropped out at the last minute and decided to go to a different school so she didn't know anyone

About 10 minutes later it was time to go in for assembly

Hannah followed them all in and sat down

It felt really weird seeing Rachel deliver the assembly, she couldn't believe that she was her head teacher now

Rachel was about half way through her assembly, when she realised that Gaby wasn't there. She obviously couldn't do anything about it at the moment so waited to the end and then went over to her form tutor

"Have you seen Gaby this morning?" She asked

"I was going to come over to you actually, she was here for registration but then her and Samantha have both been missing from assembly"

Rachel rolled her eyes "great" she said "I'll go and have a look for them now"

She then went off, she had a good idea where they would be. There was a certain toilet block all the kids seemed to go to when they skived off, the staff were starting to cotton onto it by now.

Sure enough when Rachel went in she found Gaby and a couple of her friends in there

"Well isn't this a good start to the year girls" she said sarcastically "my office now the three of you"

The girls sighed, they couldn't believe they'd been caught out, they thought no one would notice that they were gone

Reluctantly they followed Rachel up to her office

"Right can one of you please explain why you were in the toilets chatting when you should have been in assembly"

The three of them looked uncomfortable and didn't say anything

"Well?" Rachel asked raising her voice

"Sorry miss, Sam's been away in America all summer, we just wanted to catch up properly" Sophie explained

"Please tell me you don't think that seriously constitutes a valid excuse" Rachel said "tell me you don't really think it's acceptable to skip school so you can have a catch up"

"Well we only missed assembly, it's not anything really important" Gaby said causing Rachel to glare at her

"Well if you had attended the assembly you'd have heard about the new punishment for skipping any part of the school day" she said "one weeks detention for all of you"

The girls groaned at this, it seemed very excessive for just skipping assembly

"That's well tight" Gaby said

"I can happily make it 2 weeks"

The girls didn't dare argue any further, they could all tell Rachel wasn't in the mood for it

"Right off you go to your lessons, and I do not want to see any of you In this office again, is that clear"

"Yes miss"

"Now get out"

The three of them traipsed out and went to their lessons

The rest of the morning passed pretty smoothly and Rachel was able to get a fair bit of paperwork done

Hannah was still feeling pretty low, she'd stayed in her tutor group most of the morning and they'd stayed together at break, but she just didn't seem to click with any of them and felt weird about joining in with the others.

After break it was time to go to their first lesson. They had English with Mr Budgen

"Right get your homework out from over the holidays, anyone who hasn't got it will be in detention"

The teachers had all given them little tasks to do over the holidays for their transition work, however they never normally asked to see it

Hannah suddenly gasped, she had forgotten to bring it and had left it in her room. It had totally slipped her mind, she couldn't believe that she was going to end up In trouble on her first day

She didn't dare tell him she hadn't got it, she knew he'd get really angry at her and she was terrified of getting into trouble.

In the end she put her hand up

"What?" He asked sounding grumpy

"Please can I go to the toilet"

"Make it quick"

Hannah got up and quickly went out of the room

As soon as she left she burst into tears, she hated it here and just wanted to be back at primary school, she didn't know where to go

As she was walking through the corridor she bumped into Steph

"Hey it's Hannah isn't it? I've seen you around with your auntie a bit"

Hannah nodded

"Is everything okay?" She asked. Even though Steph wasn't the best of teachers, she did care enormously about the kids and hated to see them upset

"Yeah" Hannah said although she was still crying

"Do you want me to get your auntie?"

"I'm okay" Hannah said

Before Steph had a chance to reply, Hannah walked off into the toilets

Steph decided to go up to Rachel's office to let her know about Hannah.

She knocked once on the door before going in

"Hey Steph, first lessons going okay?"

"Yeah all fine"

"What can I do for you?"

"I just found Hannah, she was in the corridor crying, she didn't want to say what was wrong."

"Oh dear, I think she's finding being in secondary a bit hard"

"Does she not know anyone from primary?"

"No not really, most of them went to St. Andrews with it being a bit closer. Maybe I should have sent her there"

"Why don't you switch her over to my tutor group, the girls are all lovely and I'll keep an eye on her for you"

"You know what that might be a good idea, maybe you could introduce her to some of the girls"

"Of course, I've got them for French as well as form, they're with me now. Send me a message when you've had a chat with her and I'll get one of the girls to come and meet her in your office and take her down to see us"

"Thanks Steph, I think that might be just what she needs, I just think she needs a bit of looking after."

Rachel knew Steph would keep and she on Hannah for her and even though they'd had their disagreements, she did trust her to look after Hannah.

"Did you see where she went?"

"English block toilets"

"Okay I'll go and find her now" she said "thanks again Steph"

Rachel smiled at her and then walked out

She went across to the toilets and when she went in she could hear Hannah crying

"Hannah are you in there?' She asked

Hannah felt worried, she didn't want to get into trouble with her auntie as well.

She didn't say anything and stayed in the cubicle

"There's no one in here just me, come out and see me love" she said "it's okay you're not in trouble"

Hannah waited a bit longer but then unlocked the door

She was sobbing quite hard now and Rachel felt really sorry for her, she understood how strange everything must seem at the moment

She quickly pulled her into a hug and Hannah started crying into her

"Rachel I didn't mean to but I completely forgot the homework we were supposed to bring in, I did do it but I left it in my room, and now Mr Budgen is going to be really angry and give me detention but I honestly did just forget and .." Hannah said but she couldn't finish because she was crying so hard

"Right, it's all okay we can sort it" Rachel said calmly, she felt so sorry for Hannah getting in such a state over it and she knew Grantly was hardly the most sensitive of teachers

"Do you want to come up to my office l so we can have a little chat in private hmm?" She asked

Hannah nodded her head so Rachel led her upstairs, luckily they didn't bump into anyone on the way

As soon as they got inside Rachel closed the door and pulled the shutter across

The two of them got in and sat on the sofa

Rachel put her arm around Hannah and pulled her into her chest

She couldn't help but think about how young Hannah still was, she could easily be mistaken for a kid of 8 or 9, she always found it difficult to think that Gaby was only a year older than her

"Rachel I don't like it here" Hannah said through tears

Rachel grabbed a tissue and handed it to her

"I know it must seem strange but you've just got to give it some time"

"Everything's so different, Mr Budgen doesn't like me"

"Strictly between you and I, he's not the friendliest teacher in school" Rachel said laughing slightly

"Are you annoyed about my homework"

"No, you just made a mistake that's all and now you'll remember to make sure you have it with you next time won't you huh?"

"Yeah it won't happen again I promise"

"Don't worry about it love, there's been worse crimes committed at this place trust me" she joked "now me and Miss Haydock have been thinking and we thought maybe it might be an idea to move to her form group, then you know one of the teachers don't you and you might feel a bit more comfortable"

"Yeah that'd be really good" Hannah said "Won't the others wonder where I've gone and say stuff though"

"Don't worry about that I'll sort it"

"I don't mean to be a baby, it just feels strange here and I didn't really talk to anyone"

"I know love, just give it a couple of days yeah?"

Hannah nodded her head

"Right dry up your tears and then we'll get you settled in"

Hannah stayed in Rachel's office for a couple more minutes then Rachel sent a message to Steph

A few minutes later a girl called Megan came up to take Hannah down

Almost as soon as she started chatting, Hannah started to feel more relaxed, she seemed so nice and she could tell they were going to get on well.

The rest of the day went by really quickly and before long hannah had made friends with quite a few girls from her class. They all seemed so lovely and really welcoming

They arranged to meet up later after school and go to the park

Hannah went running up to Rachel's office at the end of the day

"Hey darling, how was this afternoon?"

"It was so good, I made friends with loads of girls in my class and we're going to go to the park tonight all of us. And we did drama which was so fun"

Rachel was so happy Hannah was feeling better and seemed to have settled in a bit, she wasn't entirely happy about her handing round the park but didn't want to stop her when she'd made some friends

She waited around a bit for Amy and Gaby and then they all set off to go and collect ivy.

As soon as they got home Hannah went upstairs to get changed into something to go out in tonight

Rachel went upstairs to bring some washing in to her room

"Oh sorry I didn't realise you were getting changed" she said

"It's okay" Hannah said "I really enjoyed school in the end"

"See I told you, you would"

"I'm so excited for the residential trip we get to go on, it'll be so fun"

Rachel was amazed at how different Hannah seemed now than how she'd been this morning, it was like talking to a different girl

"Well it's not for another month, but yeah it should be pretty good"

"Rachel can I ask you something"

"Yeah of course"

"What's a virgin?"

Rachel was a little taken aback by this, she guessed it was something Hannah had heard at school today which made her a little worried about what the year 7s were talking about

"Why do you ask that love?" She said calmly

"One of the boys said it today"

"Well do you remember a while ago we had the talk about sex?" Rachel asked, praying she did remember as she really didn't fancy going over it again, once has been bad enough

"Yeah"

"Well a virgin is someone who hasn't had sex"

"Oh really. So I'm one"

"Well yeah"

"You can't be one because you must have had sex to have Gaby" she said matter of factly

Rachel's cheeks started to burn red, this really wasn't the discussion she wanted to be having with her 11 year old niece

"Darling can we maybe talk about this a bit later I really need to start tea"

"Okay" Hannah said much to Rachel's relief

"What time are you going out?'

"About 5 I think, will I have time for tea?"

"Yeah if you eat quickly" she said

Rachel then went downstairs to start cooking the tea

About half an hour later she shouted them all down

Hannah quickly ate hers

"Are you going out then love?' Rachel asked

"Yeah"

"Okay be careful won't you, please make sure you call me if you need to"

"I will do" she said

"Be in for no later than 8, you've got school tomorrow remember"

Hannah then went off, she was really excited to see all her new friends

The evening passed quite quickly.

Rachel was just getting on with some work when Hannah came back home

"Hey did you have a nice time"

"Yeah it was so fun" Hannah said smiling

"I'm so glad you've met some friends Hannah, I knew you would"

"I think I'm going to like school"

Please review

Sent from my iPhone


	18. Chapter 18

**Wrote this on the plane and didn't have chance to finish it, so this is just the first half. Will write another chapter when I come back from my holiday in about 3 weeks time.**

A few weeks had passed and Hannah had seemed to settle into school well now, she'd found some of it quite difficult but she'd made quite a few friends and was enjoying it a lot. She was going for a sleepover tonight with some of them and was feeling quite excited about it.

It was Friday afternoon, the time seemed to be dragging but eventually the bell signalising the end of the school day went off. Everyone was very relived including Rachel who'd had a particularly stressful week, she was really looking forward to being able to relax over the weekend.

She'd just finished some work when Hannah came up to her office.

"Hey love, how's today been?" She asked

"It's been good, I'm really excited for tonight" Hannah said "I'm starving"

"Did you not have school dinner?"

"yeah but it was horrible, the chicken was pink" Hannah said

"I'm sure it wasn't Hannah" Rachel sighed, but she knew the food sometimes did leave a lot to be desired

"Do you have any food I can have"

Rachel rolled her eyes but reached in her bag and threw her a bag of crisps that she hadn't bothered eating with her lunch

"Here" She said

"Thanks Rach" Hannah said smiling "what time are you picking me up tomorrow"

"Anytime really, but remember we're having a bbq tomorrow afternoon"

"Oh yeah I remember"

"We'll just wait for Amy and Gaby then we'll get going okay?"

A few minutes later Amy came up

"Rach is it okay if I go to Jess's house?" She asked

"Yep, are you going to walk home with her"

"Yeah if that's alright"

"Fine by me"

"Okay see you later then"

Rachel waited a few more minutes but she was getting a bit impatient waiting for Gaby

"Come on let's go and see if we can find Gaby" she said to Hannah

The two of them picked up their stuff and walked out of the office

As she was walking she saw Amy and Jess on their way out of school

"Girls have either of you seen Gaby?" Rachel asked

Rachel immediately noticed Amy looking uncomfortable

"Where is she?' She asked sternly

Rachel and Gaby had been falling out a lot recently, Gaby just seemed to be getting into trouble all the time, she'd also been seeing a boy in her year and Rachel wasn't exactly happy about this as she thought Gaby was far too young for anything like that.

"I think she's in the cooler" Amy said reluctantly

Rachel sighed heavily and went off, this really wasn't what she wanted on a Friday evening, she just wanted to go home

"Hannah do you want to go and wait in the car, I'll be along in a minute"

"Okay"

Rachel reached in her bag and pulled out her car keys, Hannah got them and walked off so Rachel went across to see Gaby

When she walked in she noticed Gaby was the only one in there

Gaby sighed when she saw her Mum coming in, realising this encounter was going to result in a big lecture

"Miss Thompson can I have a few words with Gaby please" she asked "In fact you get off, I'll cover your duty here"

"Oh thanks, that'll be great"

Rachel smiled at her as she gathered her stuff up and walked out

As soon as she left, Rachel turned her attention back to Gaby

"Right, would you like to explain to me what you're doing in here?"

"Not particularly" Gaby said cheekily

"Oi mind your tone" Rachel said icily "Do you realise the amount of complaints I've had recently about your behaviour young lady?"

"Mum I honestly don't care"

"Well maybe it's time you started caring!" she said starting to lose her cool "Now why are you in here?"

Gaby sighed and chucked her planner over to her Mum, which had a note in it for her to sign

Rachel picked it up and looked at the note

"Gaby, it says here you stormed out of your English lesson, is that true?"

Gaby just shrugged her shoulders and stared at the floor

"I said is it true, and look at me while I'm talking"

Gaby sat up "Yes it's true"

"Why did you do it?" Rachel asked trying to remain calm

Gaby shrugged her shoulders again

"if I see you shrug your shoulders again one more time we're going to fall out, now why did you do it?"

"I don't know"

"You don't just storm out a classroom for no reason" Rachel said, raising her voice now

"I just felt like it"

"What and you think that's acceptable do you? It's alright to just do what you fancy because you felt like it"

"Mum I don't want to talk about it" Gaby said sounding angry and upset

"You know what fine. You're grounded for a week and you can do breaktime detention all next week"

"That's so unfair" Gaby shouted

"Actually, it's not unfair, the way you've been behaving recently is unfair to everybody" Rachel said "And I'm not happy about the way you've been at home either"

"I've been fine at home"

"No you haven't, you've been moody and sulky and just a general pain in the butt"

"Because you don't just let me do my own thing"

"Is this about Josh?" Rachel asked, Gaby hadn't been at all happy when Rachel had tried to stop her seeing him last night

Gaby didn't say anything

"Gaby you're 12 years old, you're too young to be having boyfriends" Rachel said, she did understand how Gaby was feeling, but she just really felt like she had to put a stop to it and she really didn't think it was appropriate for Gaby to be seeing a boy of Josh's age

"Josh says he thinks I'm mature for my age"

Rachel just shook her head "and why do you think he might be saying that huh?"

"Because it's true"

"No Gaby, boys say all sorts of things when they want something, and I don't like the effect he seems to be having on your attitude"

"What do you mean, when he wants something?"

Rachel sighed, Gaby was still very naïve really and clearly didn't understand the way boys minds worked

"Gaby he's 14 years old, and he might start to pressurise you into things you're not ready for and don't feel comfortable with" she said

This struck a nerve with Gaby; the truth was Josh had been asking Gaby for weeks to send pictures of herself to him and finally last night she had, only today he seemed really distant with her

"You don't know anything" Gaby shouted, getting up and going to storm out

"Oi where are you going?"

"Away from you" Gaby said "I'm walking home"

"don't be stupid, we're literally going home now"

"I don't want to be in a car with you"

"You know what fine, if you want to be so petty you'd rather spend half an hour walking home than coming back with me, then be my guest"

Gaby pushed passed her Mum and walked off

Rachel rolled her eyes and walked out to the car.

It had started raining but Gaby was already walking off ahead

"Rachel can I put the radio on?" Hannah asked

"Just leave it off for now love"

"Why isn't Gaby getting in the car"

"Because she's being very silly" Rachel sighed

The rain seemed to be getting heavier now and Gaby didn't have a coat, so Rachel realised she couldn't let her walk home alone.

She quickly drove over to Gaby and wound the window down.

"Gaby stop being stupid and get in the car"

For a moment or so Gaby continued to walk off, but then she realised she was going to get soaking wet if she walked all the way home, and she really didn't fancy it, so she turned back around and got in the back seat

"Don't expect me to talk to you" she said as she fastened her seat belt

Rachel chose to ignore her and drove off to pick Ivy up

The journey back felt a bit tense as Rachel and Gaby weren't talking to each other at all, they could both be really stubborn at times

As soon as they got home, Gaby flounced off to her bedroom

"You can stop with the amateur dramatics, it's not going to get you anywhere with me young lady" Rachel called up

Gaby ignored her and slammed the door behind her

Rachel rolled her eyes, she really didn't know what had gotten into Gaby lately

"Hannah are you going to go and get changed love, then you're all ready to go"

"Yeah okay" Hannah said before going off upstairs

A few minutes later she came down with the bag she was taking with her

"Are you ready to go love?"

"yeah I think so"

"Okay come on then"

Rachel called Ivy down and then the three of them got in the car

"Rachel, you know how a while ago Gaby didn't eat much" Hannah said

"Yes" Rachel replied, wondering where this was leading

"Well I think she's doing it again"

Hearing this made Rachel instantly start panicking, she always held a fear of Gaby relapsing into her eating disorder, she couldn't stand to go through all the pain of it again

"Why do you say that Hannah?" Rachel asked calmly, although her heart was racing

"I was sat near her at lunch time and she didn't eat anything"

The truth was that Gaby was just so upset about the way Josh had been with her all day, she just hadn't felt like eating anything, however obviously Rachel didn't know about any of this

"Okay, well I'll have a little chat with her"

"Is she okay?" Hannah asked

"I'm sure everything will be fine, but you did the right thing letting me know"

As soon as she dropped Hannah off Rachel started to worry, she really hoped Gaby was eating okay and it was just a once off

"Rachel my stomach hurts" Ivy said as they were driving back

"Really, when did that start?" she asked

"It's been hurting a bit all day at school"

"Well keep an eye on it see how It goes, try going to the toilet when you get in, sometimes that helps"

"Okay"

As soon as they got home Rachel went upstairs and into Gaby's room

"Gaby I need to talk to you" she said, sitting down on the bed next to her

"I'm not in the mood for a lecture"

"I don't want to lecture, I just want a talk that's all"

"What about?"

"You know you can tell me anything don't you?" Rachel said "No matter what I'm always going to be here for you"

Gaby's heart missed a beat, she thought somehow Rachel must have found out about the picture

"What do you mean?"

Rachel thought carefully about how to word this

"Hannah was a bit worried about you"

"Why?"

"She tells me you weren't eating today at lunch"

"Oh right" Gaby said, immensely relieved

"Have you got something you want to talk about?"

"No, honestly it's just because I wasn't feeling that well, I promise it's nothing to do with trying to be slim. I'm over all that for good"

Rachel could tell Gaby was telling the truth and felt relieved

"Okay, I just wanted to check" she said "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah totally"

"I was going to order Chinese for tea"

"Sounds good"

Rachel was about to leave when she turned to face Gaby again

"I meant what I said, you can talk to me whenever you need to"

"I know" Gaby said forcing a quite smile

 **Will continue this chapter soon as I get back**

Sent from my Iphone


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Followed on from my last update

A couple of hours had passed, and Rachel had dropped Hannah off at her sleepover about an hour ago. Although at first Hannah had been excited about it, now she was there she really wasn't having the best time.

All the other girls acted so much older than she was, and it made her feel a bit uncomfortable. There was one particular girl called Zara who made her feel especially awkward, she was only 11 but acted like she was already well into her teenage years.

She's just finished giving Hannah a makeover and had also ended up shaping and tinting her eyebrows, Hannah looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't believe how different she looked, she wasn't sure at all about the eyebrows and was sure Rachel wouldn't be too impressed when she saw them tomorrow.

"Wow Hannah you look amazing"

Hannah wasn't so sure, she just didn't really feel like herself. She also had a really sore stomach and it was starting to get even worse.

"Why don't we talk about which boys we fancy in our year" one of the girls suggested

Hannah began to feel even more uncomfortable, she hated having conversations like this. At the moment, she really couldn't care less about boys and had a feeling she'd stay that way for quite a while.

"Go on then Hannah who do you fancy?"

"Erm I don't know"

"Who'd fancy her, she's practically a boy" Zara said looking at her chest. The others all burst out laughing, but Hannah felt tears form in her eyes. She quickly got up and ran over to the toilet.

She burst into tears, she didn't know why she felt like this, but it was horrible.

She decided to go to the loo while she was there. She got shock when she pulled he pyjama bottoms down and realised there was blood all over them

She couldn't believe she'd come on her period again, especially at someone else's house. She felt really scared and embarrassed and dint know what to do about it, it wasn't as if she packed pads with her and she felt too shy to ask anyone else for them, she'd only told her very best friend Megan about starting her periods, and she hadn't been able to make it tonight

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door

Hannah hastily dried her eyes and opened the door

Zara was stood there looking uncomfortable

"I'm really sorry Hannah, I feel awful now, I didn't mean to upset you"

"It's okay" Hannah mumbled "I really don't feel well, I think I'm going to ask Rachel to pick me up"

"It's not because of me that you want to go is it?"

"No not at all" Hannah said

"You know I really like you, I just say stupid things sometimes, I meant it as a joke"

"Honestly it's okay. Please will you pass me my bag through, I want to get changed into my normal clothes"

"Sure, I'll let the others know you want to go back and then I'll let Mum know"

Hannah quickly got changed and then went back through

The others were all really nice to her, but she still decided to ring Rachel

Rachel had just put Ivy to bed when the phone rang so she quickly got up to answer it

"Hello" she said

"Rachel, I don't feel very well" Hannah said

Rachel could tell immediately something was wrong as Hannah sounded all upset

"Hannah what's wrong love?"

"My stomach really hurts, please will you come and get me" Hannah said crying now

"Of course I will, I'll be round in about 5 minutes okay?"

"okay" Hannah said sounding tearful

She then hung up the phone

Rachel quickly told Gaby where she was going and asked her to look after Ivy, before grabbing her car keys and setting off

It didn't take long for Rachel to get to Zara's house. When she got there, she stepped out of the car and went up to the door

Almost as soon as she knocked Zara's Mum answered

"Hi Rachel, Hannah's just upstairs I'll call her down"

A few moments later Hannah came downstairs

Rachel could tell at once he'd been crying, she was also shocked when she saw the makeup and eyebrows, but decided not to say anything for now

"Hey sweetie, should we get going?"

Hannah just nodded and followed Rachel out to the car

"Does your stomach still hurt"

"Yeah"

Rachel was a bit suspicious, she couldn't help but think there was more to this than just a sore stomach

"When did it start?"

"At Zara's"

"You seemed fine before you left" she said

"Yeah it just came on"

Rachel didn't really believe her but chose to keep quiet

"What's with the new look?" Rachel asked

"Zara did it"

Rachel had already heard Zara's name quite a lot around school, she liked the girl, but she acted a lot older than most 11-year olds and she wasn't a massive fan of the makeup she'd routinely wear for school.

"Well I hope that tint she's used is a decent brand, it can really irritate your skin if you use a poor quality one"

Hannah was surprised Rachel was being so chilled about it, she thought she'd be really angry. She wanted to tell her about everything that had happened, but she felt too embarrassed and upset about it all.

As soon as they got back Hannah wanted to go in

It was only then that Rachel realised Hannah had got changed

"How come you didn't leave your pyjamas on" she asked

"Erm I don't know, I just didn't want to go home in them"

"Well no one would have seen"

Rachel then unlocked the door and Hannah went straight up to her room. She quickly got changed, went to the bathroom and then got into bed, despite the fact it was still quite early

Rachel was a bit worried about Hannah, she couldn't help but think she was acting a bit strangely

She decided to go up to her room and check to see if she was okay

She knocked once on her door before going in

"You're in bed early" she remarked

"I'm tired"

Rachel went over and crouched down next to her

"Hannah is everything okay?"

Hannah just nodded her head in response

"Has something happened at your friend's house? You know you can tell me if it has don't you, I'm not going to overreact I promise"

"No I'm okay"

Rachel still didn't believe her but she couldn't force her to talk

"Okay love, well you know you can always come for a chat if you need to"

"Yeah" Hannah said "Can I have some medicine; my stomach is still sore"

"okay, I'll get you some paracetamol and water"

Rachel went and got the stuff and then said goodnight

After Rachel left Hannah tried to get to sleep but she couldn't, she still felt upset about everything. She also realised she'd have to put her pyjamas in the wash

About an hour and a half had passed and she still hadn't been able to get to sleep, so in the end Hannah decided to go downstairs and see her auntie

She saw the light was on in the living room, so she went in and saw Rachel with a glass of wine watching TV

Rachel looked up when she saw Hannah come in

"Hey love, I thought you were sleeping"

Hannah didn't know what to say, instead she just handed Rachel the bag with her pyjamas in

"Please will you wash these for me" she asked before running off

"Hannah" Rachel called, really confused.

It made sense though when she looked in the bag, she sighed, feeling really sorry for Hannah and she wished she'd just told her earlier.

She put the stuff in the wash and waited a while before going up after Hannah.

When she went up to her room she found her curled up on her bed crying her eyes out

"Oh love" she whispered, before closing the door so they could talk in private

She went over and sat next to Hannah

Slowly Hannah sat up, so Rachel put an arm around her

"Hannah why didn't you just tell me huh, rather than worrying about it"

"It's embarrassing"

"No it's not, look every woman has had their period leak at some point I promise, it's happened to me before loads of times"

"Really"

"Yeah, it's not a big deal honestly. Did your friends see?"

"No"

"So there's nothing to be worried about is there. Is this why you wanted to come home?"

"It's not just that" Hannah sobbed "They were all talking about boys and stuff and I just didn't get it, and then Zara said I'd never get a boyfriend because I have no boobs"

"What" Rachel said, shaking her head "Darling you've only just turned 11, you've got so much growing up to do yet"

"So I will get a boyfriend one day"

Rachel sighed "Of course you will, but at this age it shouldn't even be something you're thinking about. You're not old enough to have proper feelings for boys yet, no one in your year is."

"What do you mean" Hannah asked

"Well when you get older, you'll start to look at boys in a different way, as in you won't just see them as friends anymore, you'll see them as something a bit more" she explained "I know that probably doesn't make sense right now but it will as you get older"

"I don't even want a boyfriend"

"Well I hope you're still saying that in a few years time but somehow I doubt it" Rachel said

"Gaby has a boyfriend"

"Yep I'm aware of that"

"He's 2 years older than she is"

"I'm aware of that too"

"One of the girls in my year is his sister"

"oh yeah it's Abby isn't it"

"Yeah, she says Gaby is round their house loads and she goes up to his bedroom"

This shocked Rachel, she hadn't realised Gaby had been going round to Josh's house, she thought it was just in school and at the park they saw each other. She had no idea it was so serious.

"Really"

"Yeah"

"Okay, well I'll talk to Gaby about that later. Are you ready to go to sleep now huh"

"Yeah"

"Night, night then. Love you lots"

"Love you too"

Rachel smiled and then flicked out the light

She decided to go and see Gaby straight away, she needed to know exactly what was going on between her and Josh, as it was starting to worry her a bit.

She could see the light was on in Gaby's room so she went in

When she went in she found Gaby on her phone

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Gaby snapped

"I need to talk to you Gaby" Rachel said

"Mum I'm not in the mood"

"I know, but I still need to talk to you"

Gaby sighed but sat up

"I'm going to ask you something and I need you to answer honestly"

"Okay" Gaby said rolling her eyes

"Have you been going round to Josh's house and going up to his bedroom"

Gaby froze, she didn't know how to answer this, she knew her Mum would be furious at her if she answered honestly

"No"

"Don't lie to me Gaby" Rachel warned

"Okay yeah but only a few times"

"Gaby you're 12 years old, he's 14!" Rachel said "I know you don't realise this but he's going to want something that you're just not ready for"

"What do you mean?"

Rachel sighed realising she was going to have to spell it out

"I'm saying, this "relationship" might be all innocent to you, but it might not be for him, he might start trying to pressurise you into things and that will be a really hard situation for you"

"What sort of things"

"Come on Gaby, we've talked about sex before"

"I'm not going to have sex with him!"

"Well I'd hope not, but it's not just sex, it might be other things, things that you're still not ready for and …"

Gaby couldn't stand it anymore, she knew she couldn't keep it a secret forever

"I sent him pictures" she suddenly shouted, before bursting into tears

This caused Rachel to stop talking at once, she couldn't believe what she was hearing

"You did what?" She shouted

"I don't know what I was thinking, he kept asking me and I couldn't say no anymore"

"What pictures did you send him"

"Mum I don't want to talk about it with you" Gaby cried

"Well they'll probably be all round school by Monday so you may as well show me now"

Gaby argued some more but eventually gave in and handed her Mum the phone

Rachel couldn't believe it when she looked through the conversations between Josh and Gaby

"Mum stop looking" Gaby cried

"Gaby how the hell could you be so bloody stupid, we've talked about this before, do you not have a fragment of common flaming sense in that brain of yours"

Gaby started sobbing even harder

"And crying won't fix it" Rachel shouted "What possessed you? What would make you do something so silly?"

"I don't know, I thought he wouldn't like me anymore if I didn't"

"Oh for gods sake Gaby, he wanted you for one thing and one thing only and you gave it to him"

"I didn't know. I thought he loved me and I just … I just .. oh you don't understand"

"You know what Gaby I don't understand , I don't have any idea why you would have such a little amount of self-respect, you would do this"

"I do have respect for myself"

"Really, well that's not what those pictures suggest"

"Just shut up will you" Gaby screamed "I'm sick of being a disappointment to you, I'm going out"

"Out where? It's 11 at night"

"Round to Sophie's house" she shouted

"You know what good, I can't even stand to look at you right now"

Gaby just shoved past Rachel and went downstairs

almost as soon as Gaby went out, Rachel regretted telling her to leave, or at least not stopping her from leaving. She just felt so angry at her at the moment and couldn't believe she'd done this.

It took Rachel a while to calm down. She was still annoyed at Gaby, but she also knew how easy it was for girls her age to be manipulated into something.

About 10 minutes later she decided to go around to Sophie's house and get Gaby

It was only a 5 minute walk so she grabbed her coat, locked the house up and went out

It was raining quite heavily now and had turned quite cold

Rachel had been walking for about 3 minutes, when suddenly she saw Gaby crying on one of the benches.

She hadn't taken a coat so she was soaked through and was shivering

Rachel rushed over to her

"Gaby what are you doing, you must be freezing! I thought you were going to Sophie's"

"She wasn't in"

"Why didn't you just come home"

"Because you hate me"

Rachel sighed heavily and sat down "I don't hate you, I'm just disappointed. But we all make mistakes. Come on let's go home, we can talk properly there"

Rachel put an arm around Gaby and the two of them walked home

"Why don't you get out of those wet things"

Gaby quickly took her clothes off and got changed into some warm pyjamas

"Go and sit in the back room, I'll make us a hot drink"

Gaby went and sat down and a few minutes later Rachel came in with hot chocolate.

"Mum I'm sorry"

"I know you are, and there's not really a lot we can do about though is there?"

"He's stopped talking to me since I sent it"

"Oh love" Rachel said, putting her arm around her

"You know when I was your age, we didn't have the same pressures you do, what with social media and phones and well everything else, but I do know what it's like to feel like you really like someone and do anything for that person"

"I don't even think I like him anymore"

"Well I know you think I'm lecturing, and well maybe I am a bit, but I do think it's not the right time to have boyfriends. You've got your whole life ahead of you for that"

"I know you're right. I was just being stupid"

"Hey we all make mistakes, I know I've made plenty. We've just got to learn from them haven't we huh?"

"Yeah I guess"

"I'm not going to go on anymore, I think you've learnt your lesson haven't you?"

"Yeah I promise I have"

"Okay, well how about we forget about it for now"

"Yeah that sounds good"

"Come on then, let's go to bed"

Please review. Also, I'd love to do an Ivy based storyline because I know I haven't done any with her in for ages, I'd be really grateful if anyone could suggest ideas.

Sent from my Iphone


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 **Thankyou so much for the suggestions I'll definitely use them, this chapter isn't Ivy based, but the next couple will be**

It was a Thursday afternoon and Rachel was at her desk doing some work. She had a meeting in 20 minutes with some of the governors, so she was trying to get as much done as possible before they came in. She'd had a really busy week, so she was looking forward to spending some time relaxing over the weekend, it just still seemed like ages away as she had to go on a course tomorrow which was going to take up most of her day.

She'd just finished her work and was making a cup of coffee when one of the teachers came into discuss a pupil, meaning she didn't get any time to relax before the governors came.

They were about twenty minutes into the meeting when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Sorry, I did ask for us not to be disturbed unless it was urgent" Rachel said apologetically.

She then got up and went to open the door

To her surprise Amy walked in

"What Is it Amy?" Rachel asked "We're right in the middle of an important meeting"

"Can I go out tonight, everyone else is" Amy asked, not acknowledging the people in the room

The governors all looked confused, they didn't know that Amy was Rachel's niece

Rachel felt mortified, she couldn't believe Amy had interrupted them to ask this

"Amy this isn't the time or the place, get back to your lesson right now" Rachel said, trying to keep calm

"But Rach I need to know now"

This caused a ripple of laughter to spread around the room, Rachel could feel her cheeks burning. She realised she was going to have to speak to Amy outside before she embarrassed her any further

"Outside now" Rachel said frostily "Excuse me for just a second, Amy's my niece" she said to the governors

Amy went outside of Rachel's office and her auntie quickly followed, closing the door firmly behind her

"Amy what the hell are you playing at! You've just completely shown me up in front of some very important people. You can't just waltz in and interrupt an important meeting for something completely inappropriate." Rachel said angrily, although she was trying to keep her voice down as she didn't want the governors to hear. "and don't let me ever hear you call me Rach again in school, especially in front of other people, I've told you about that before"

"Chill out, I just needed to talk to you"

"Well it clearly isn't a good time, you know flaming well you do not come up to this office during school time unless you've been sent here or it's for something very urgent"

"Alright I'm sorry, but can I go?"

"You seriously think now is the right time"

"Well just answer the question and I'll go" She said "Literally everyone else's parents have said yes"

Amy and her friends were desperate to try and sneak into the new night club that had opened in town, they did a really good student night on a Thursday and all the girls had managed to get some ID off some older girls.

"What are you even going on about?"

"Jess is having a sleepover can I go?"

"It's a school night"

"So?"

"So, I don't want you sleeping over"

"Please Rach"

"I've just told you not to call me that young lady!" Rachel said

"sorry, please can I go Miss?" Amy said, just a little sarcastically

Rachel sighed heavily, but realised Amy wasn't going to go until she said yes "If and only if, you get all your homework done before you go, you can stay over"

"Thanks Rac… I mean Miss" Amy said hugging her, delighted the plan was going to work

"Right, now can you please leave me to get on with my job"

"Sure"

Amy ran off and Rachel shook her head before going back into her office

The meeting didn't end up taking very long in the end which Rachel was relieved about, she felt like she hadn't had a moment to herself all day

A soon as they left, Rachel finally got to make herself a cup of coffee

She sat on the sofa with it and stared out of the window

Suddenly she saw a young girl run across the playground, Rachel sighed realising she was now going to have to deal with a skiving kid. When she looked closer she realised it was Hannah, this shocked Rachel as Hannah would never normally do something like this.

She quickly got up and ran out of her office.

Luckily, Hannah hadn't gotten very far in the time taken for Rachel to go down the stairs. She quickly spotted her so ran over

"Hannah what are you doing?" Rachel asked

Hannah jumped when she saw her auntie behind her

She didn't know what to say so just stood there

"Why aren't you in lessons huh?" Rachel asked "You know better than to run out of school, it's really serious Hannah. Unless there's a very good explanation you'll be doing detention tomorrow, it's totally unacceptable"

Rachel hadn't meant for it to come out as harshly as it did, she was just feeling really stressed and on edge today

Hearing her auntie shout made Hannah start to cry, she desperately tried to wipe the tears away with the sleeve of her school jumper

Rachel softened when she saw the tears, she felt bad for shouting

"Come on, lets go inside out of the cold, I'm freezing out here" She said

Hannah didn't say anything but followed her auntie inside. Rachel put an around her an led her up to her office.

Rachel always did feel very protective over Hannah, she was still very young for her age and always looked far too young to be in secondary school.

By the time they got up to Rachel's office, Hannah was crying even more so Rachel closed the door and sat her down on the sofa

"You want a drink?"

"Yes please"

"What would you like, I've got water, juice or I can do hot chocolate"

"Can I have hot chocolate please?"

"Sure, give me a minute"

Rachel made her drink and then handed it to her and passed her a couple of tissues

"I can finally have my coffee too, I feel like I've not had chance to have a drink all day" she said, sitting down next to her

Rachel waited until Hannah had calmed down a bit before saying "so do you want to tell me what you were doing out of your lesson?"

"I don't feel well" Hannah said sounding small "I wanted to go home"

"Okay, but you must know you can't just walk home without telling anyone where you're going, we need to make sure we know where you are so we can keep you safe"

"I'm sorry"

"Why didn't you come up and see me if you weren't feeling well?"

"I don't know" Hannah mumbled

Rachel couldn't help but think Hannah was acting a bit strangely

"How don't you feel well?"

"My head and stomach really hurt, and I feel hot"

Rachel felt her forehead "You don't feel hot to me"

"I just don't feel well" Hannah said, crying again

"Sweetheart has something happened?" Rachel asked gently

Hannah shook her head "I just don't feel well" she repeated

"Which lesson are you supposed to be in now"

"PSHE" Hannah replied

"Miss Thomas's class?"

"Yeah"

"Where does she think you are?"

"Toilet"

"I better get a message to her, she'll be worried about you" Rachel said, she quickly got up and sent an email before sitting back down with Hannah

She got the impression something had happened in her lesson that had more to do with being ill

"What were you doing in class today?"

"I don't want to talk about it" Hannah said before bursting into tears again

Rachel felt really sorry for her and put an arm around the little girl

"Oh love" she said "I won't make you talk about it if you don't want to but just tell me, Is the reason your upset because your feeling ill or because of something that happened in class"

"Something that happened in class" she admitted

"Okay, and are you sure you don't want to tell me what is was, sometimes it can help to talk things through"

"We were doing a lesson on sex and Miss Thomas kept saying how it's important to talk to your Mum or Dad about it, and then Maisie told her off because she said I don't have a Mum or Dad and that she shouldn't assume everyone does, she was trying to be really nice but I got upset and then everyone starter asking me loads of questions about it and I felt really panicky so I had to go out"

"love, I do understand why that would have upset you, you should have come to see me about it" she said "I know how much you miss your Mum"

"I feel bad talking about her" Hannah said

"Why do you feel bad?"

"Because you've been so good to me and I don't want you to think I don't like it at yours because I do"

Rachel's heart melted hearing Hannah say this, she was such a sweet girl

"Oh darling, you don't have to worry about me. I know how hard it is to lose someone so close and no one will ever be able to replace your Mum." Rachel said "But I am always here, if ever you need someone to talk to about anything at all"

"Yeah I know" Hannah said

"I know you're at such a difficult age at the moment and it's a time where there are things you will need someone to talk things through with, I know I'm not your Mum and I'll never try to be but you can always come to me. And, If for whatever you feel like you can't talk to me, Gaby and Amy are always there for you too"

"Thanks Rachel" She said, attempting to dry her tears

"Do you want to stay up here for a bit before you go back to class?"

"Yeah, I don't want the others to see I've been crying"

"Okay, 10 minutes then it's back to class, I need to get on with some work"

Hannah suddenly felt really tired, she hadn't slept that well last night, she laid down on the sofa and within minutes fell asleep

Rachel became so engrossed in her work she didn't even notice Hannah. It wasn't till she looked at the clock she realised she needed to send Hannah back to class

"Hannah it's time to go back to …" she began, however she stopped when she saw Hannah

Rachel couldn't help but smile, she looked so cute on the sofa.

She knew she should probably wake her and send her back to class, but she didn't have the heart to. Instead she put her coat over her to act as a blanket

Hannah was so sleepy she didn't wake up until the bell went

She jumped and opened her eyes

"Rachel what time is it?"

"Oh you're finally awake, I think I remember saying 10 minutes and back to class" She said, she was joking but Hannah looked worried

"Sorry, I didn't mean to"

"I know it's okay, I should have woken you up but you looked so comfortable"

"I felt really tired"

"Do you feel better now after your sleep?"

"Yeah loads better"

"We'll set off soon, Amy's going on a sleepover tonight so she'll need to get some stuff together"

"I thought you said we weren't aloud sleepovers on a school night"

"Yeah well I didn't have a lot of choice, she didn't exactly choose the best time to ask me"

A little while later, Gaby and Amy came up so they all left to pick Ivy up from after school club

By the time they got home Rachel felt quite tired, she'd had a really busy week and was ready to finish for the weekend tomorrow

Amy quickly went upstairs and started packing some stuff, she put the dress she was going to wear right at the bottom of the bag so that Rachel wouldn't notice, she felt a bit nervous but also quite excited as she'd never been to a proper night club before

About an hour later Rachel dropped her off at her friends house, she wasn't suspicious at all at the moment and really did just think they were going for a sleepover

When she got back she made tea for everyone

About twenty minutes later she called the three of them down

"Mum did you hear about what happened in school today" Gaby said

"Well funnily enough I tend to hear about most things, so I might need a little more to go off"

"In miss Haydock's class"

"no" Rachel said sighing slightly, whenever there was drama Steph would always be involved

"Really! There was a massive fight and everything"

Rachel was a bit concerned now, she couldn't understand why she was hearing this off Gaby and no one else had told her about it

"What happened?"

"Well basically Sophie Cotton in my year has been going out with Sam Turner and she found out today that he did stuff with …"

Rachel frowned and tapped her arm lightly, gesturing towards Ivy

"Sorry, but anyway he's been cheating on her with Megan Jones and then they're in my French class and today they had a massive fight in the middle of class, it was so funny but then Mr Lawson came in"

Rachel was really shocked about this and couldn't understand why nobody had told her before now, but she didn't want to make too big a deal with it in front of Gaby

"Are you sure you're telling me the truth Gaby, you're not exaggerating huh?"

"No I'm telling the truth I swear"

"Okay, well I guess that's something else I'll have to deal with tomorrow isn't it?"

"Why it's over with now"

"Because believe it or not I actually need to deal with these things Gaby, it's all very well you standing there laughing at it but it's not on, not in my school" Rachel snapped

Gaby was taken back by her Mum's tone

Rachel sighed "Sorry I don't mean to snap, I'm just a bit stressed that's all"

The four of them finished their tea and then the girls went off

After the girls had all gone to bed, except Gaby who was watching Tv in her room, Rachel decided to have a bath. It was needed after a stressful day at work.

It was about 11 when Amy arrived at the club, she already felt quite drunk as her and her friends had been drinking quite a lot before they got there.

At first everything seemed so exciting, it was packed full of people, the lights and music seemed so cool to all the girls. They couldn't believe they'd actually been able to get away with the ID they'd used. A few of them went to the bar and ordered some more drinks.

The girls all started dancing together and before long some boys came over to join them.

It wasn't long before all the girls started to feel very drunk and were behaving really out of character.

Amy started chatting to one of the guys and eventually they made out

He started feeling her up, normally Amy would have pushed him off but she was drunk so just went along with it.

"Fancy going somewhere"

Amy nodded her head and the guy led her out to a quiet part of the smoking area

They started making out again and he was all over her body

"Let's go back to mine"

"No I don't want to, not yet"

"You need to loosen up" he said, he then reached in his pocket

Amy looked at the pill he had

"Ever wanted to try it?"

Amy had never been near drugs before, and normally she would refuse in an instant but in her drunk mind it seemed like a good idea

"What is it?" she slurred

"Just MDMA, it won't harm you"

Amy took it off him, put it in her mouth and swallowed

At first she felt fine, in fact it's effects were making her feel great, everything seemed so much more intense

However, after about 20 minutes she really didn't feel right, everything was spinning and seemed to be booming out at her. Her chest began to feel tight, her friends could tell something wasn't right.

They took her outside, but by this point Amy was totally out of it, her eyes kept rolling back into her head

"Amy what have you taken? Did that guy give you something?"

Amy didn't answer, she just started laughing hysterically

"She's clearly on something, we need to get her home"

"Miss will kill us"

"I know but there's nothing else we can do"

"We don't have to tell her she's taken drugs"

"We could just drop her off, check she's home safe"

The girls eventually managed to get Amy in a taxi and took her back to her house

Amy was in a really bad way and had thrown up all over the taxi so the driver was furious

The girls realised they were going to have to knock on the door and wake Rachel up even though they were all dreading it and they really didn't want to get Amy into trouble

It took two of them to drag Amy to the door

Rachel was in bed and got the shock of her life when she heard a knock at the door, as she was just about to go to sleep

She jumped and then got up and wrapped her dressing gown round herself to cover up.

She felt a bit nervous as she went down, wondering who the hell would be knocking at this time

Cautiously she opened the door

She couldn't believe it when she saw Amy and a group of her friends, she quickly realised Amy was extremely drunk

"Girls what the hells going on?"

"We're sorry, we've been out. Amy's got into a bit of a state"

"Yes I can see that. You're 15 years old, where on earth have you all been?"

"We went into town, we had fake ID's" One of the girls said sheepishly

"Hello Rach, we're all fucked" Amy said laughing "was fun, I was sick in the taxi and he's not happy"

"How could you go behind my back like this! Have you got any idea the sort of trouble you're in young lady" Rachel shouted, "Inside right now"

Amy couldn't walk on her own so Rachel had to grab her and drag her in

"Girls how are you getting home?"

"We'll order another taxi"

"Did you get charged for Amy being sick"

"Yeah £40"

Rachel sighed and reached for her purse, she handed them some money. She couldn't believe they'd all gone out, she realised though it wasn't her place to tell the other girls off.

"Thanks Miss, you didn't have to"

"Well you shouldn't have to pay for Amy" she said

Luckily the taxi came quickly and the girls went off

Rachel turned her attention to Amy

"How dare you behave like this, anything could have happened"

Suddenly Amy was sick all over the floor

"oh for gods sake Amy, couldn't you have gone to the toilet"

Amy started to feel the room spinning around her, Rachel's voice sounded all echoey

Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground

"Amy" Rachel gasped

She quickly crouched down next to her and shook her. It was only then she realised her pupils

"Have you taken something?" she said in disbelief

Amy just continued to laugh

"Have you taken drugs?" Rachel practically screamed

Amy nodded her head "It's fun"

"You stupid girl, what you taken? Tell me now"

"Ecstasy"

"Have you got any idea how dangerous that is Amy! What the bloody hell were you thinking" Rachel shouted, though now her anger was mixed with quite a lot of worry

Amy wasn't responding and was clearly completely out of it

A couple of minutes later she was sick again, all over Rachel

Rachel didn't know what to do, she didn't know how to bring her round. Amy seemed to be getting worse and looked unconscious

"Amy can you hear me, Amy" Rachel shouted trying to wake her up

Amy stirred slightly but then promptly fell back to sleep

Rachel began to get really worried, if Amy had taken drugs then it could end really badly, especially since her body wasn't used to it at all.

Rachel decided she needed to get her to hospital, as she really didn't feel comfortable not having her checked out

She didn't know what to do about the girls, she knew Gaby and Hannah would be okay but wasn't so sure about Ivy

In the end she decided to wake Gaby up and ask her to keep an eye on ivy

After she'd spoken to Gaby, Rachel quickly got changed

"Amy I'm going to take you to the hospital, just to make sure you're alright"

Amy didn't really respond.

It took a lot of effort to get Amy into the car, as she could barely stand let alone walk

Rachel put her seatbelt on and then drove off with Amy

She was furious with her of course, but she really just wanted to make sure she was okay as right now she felt very worried

When they got to the hospital Rachel realised she was going to have to get some help with Amy as she'd passed out again

Luckily one of the porters was on hand to get Amy into a wheelchair and into the hospital

Rachel was in shock, she couldn't believe the night had ended up like this and the amount of danger Amy had put herself in, she knew she could be naïve but never imagined she'd do something like this

Amy was rushed through pretty quickly

Rachel tried to explain what had happened as best she could

The doctor explained that they were going to give her a charcoal drink to induce vomiting and get everything out her system

It took some doing getting the drink down Amy but eventually she managed to drink it

It didn't take long for the effects to kick in and Amy was violently sick, Rachel sighed and got up to hold her hair back, while the nurse put the sick bowl in front of her

"I'm so sorry about this" Rachel said to the nurse once Amy had stopped "it must drive you mad having teens come in like this"

"We see it all the time, they're just so impressionable."

"Is she going to be okay"

"Yes doctor said she'll be fine within a few hours, but we're going to keep her in over night to monitor her"

"I had no idea she was going out, never mind taking drugs" Rachel said, on the verge of tears

The nurse put a hand on her shoulder

"Hey don't beat yourself up over it, kids will be kids, my son was in here a year back for a similar enough reason. Just give her a talking to tomorrow"

"Oh don't worry she won't be doing this again in a hurry" Rachel said smiling slightly "Thankyou" she added

The nurse then left them to it

After being sick a few more times Amy eventually went to sleep

Rachel didn't know what to do with herself, Amy had been put in a room on her own, so Rachel ended up staying with her for the night. She fell asleep on the chair next to her.

Rachel woke up early the next morning and after an hour or so Amy woke up too

"Rachel" Amy said sounding scared and confused, she could barely remember anything from last night

Rachel jumped, she hadn't realised Amy had woken up

"Where am I?"

"You're in hospital. Do you remember anything that happened last night?"

Amy's eyes filled with tears, she sort of remembered taking a pill but nothing after that

"Not really"

"Well let me fill you in, so you went out clubbing and got so drunk you took an ecstasy pill that landed you in here. Have you got any idea how worried you made me, you could have died Amy"

"I'm sorry"

Rachel was about to say something, but realised now really wasn't the time for an argument

"How are you feeling"

"Crap"

"I'm not bloody surprised, you and me are going to have a serious chat later" Rachel said "You're lucky it wasn't a whole lot worse"

The next few hours passed quite quickly. As soon as Amy had been assessed she was told she could go home

Amy was dreading the car journey back. It was obvious Rachel wasn't in any sort of a conversational mood and was still furious at her

They got in the car and at first neither of them spoke, which made it feel even more awkward

"Rachel I'm really sorry"

"And that's good enough is it! You could have died Amy, what the hell were you thinking. I just can't believe you'd do something so stupid, I really can't. Honestly I'm disgusted in you, taking drugs I mean come on, do you not have even the smallest amount of common sense, that pill could have been anything"

Amy was sobbing hysterically now

Rachel sighed, no matter how angry she was, she still hated seeing her upset

"I don't mean to make you cry, I just need you to understand how dangerous it was, you could have died" Rachel said

"I don't know what to say to make it better, I'm just so sorry" Amy said again

"Well there's not a lot else I can say either, other than that you're grounded for at least a month"

"I know I deserve it"

"You deserve a lot more young lady." Rachel said "Look we'll talk more later, let's get home for now though"

Please review xxxxxx


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It was a Friday evening and Rachel was extremely glad to have finished work for the weekend, especially since there was only one more week left of term until they broke up for the Christmas holidays, she'd had a really busy week and was looking forward to some time at home with the girls.

Amy was going straight to a friend's house tonight, so she'd already gone so Rachel just had to wait for Gaby and Hannah to come up before they could set off, she hoped they wouldn't take too long as she needed to pick Ivy up from after school club.

Eventually the two of them came up

"Hey girls how was school?"

"It was alright for school" Gaby said, "Is it okay if Holly stays over tonight?"

"I don't know Gab it's a bit short notice" Rachel sighed, she had been looking forward to a night of peace and quiet tonight

"Well if not tonight maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah tomorrow will be fine"

"Okay I'll text her"

"How are you Hannah, was school okay" Rachel asked, Hannah had seemed a little bit down over the last few days, so she wanted to keep an eye on her

"Yeah It was okay, would it be okay if I go out with some friends tonight"

"Out where?"

"Just to Sophie's house"

"Yeah, I guess so, make sure you're home for 9 though okay?"

Hannah just nodded her head in response. She wasn't having the best time at school at the moment as she'd fallen out with a few of her friends and so she'd started hanging round with a few different people, however she always felt a bit uncomfortable around them, she hadn't told anyone about what had happened though.

"Should we get going then, we need to pick Ivy up"

The three of them then went outside and got in the car

Rachel drove over to Ivy's school, she was in a bit of a rush as she was already running a bit late for picking her up.

Eventually she got to school so dashed out quickly and left Gaby and Ivy in the car

She returned a few minutes later with Ivy

"Hey Ivy, how was the nativity?" Gaby asked knowing it was there performance today

"It was okay, but Jake was sick on stage" she said

"Oh well that must have been lovely for all the teachers" Rachel said sarcastically

"It was gross"

"Well I hope you don't end up with whatever he's got" she sighed, if there was one thing, she didn't do it was sick.

"There's loads of people in my class off with chickenpox too"

"Marvellous" Rachel said rolling her eyes "Just what we need in time for Christmas"

Before long they arrived home and the girls all got straight out.

Rachel got her stuff out the car and then followed them in.

As soon as she got in, she went straight up to her room to change out of her work things, she always liked being able to get into something comfy as soon as she got home. She tied her hair up and got into her jeans and warm jumper.

After she'd got ready, she decided to make a start on a bit of work in her study, she wanted to get it out the way so she could enjoy the rest of the weekend and not have to think about it. She'd been working for about half an hour when Hannah came in.

Rachel did a double take when she saw her, she had a short skirt on with no tights and a crop top from summer, she also had quite a bit of very poorly applied makeup on.

"I'm just going off now"

"Erm I'm afraid you're not going anywhere like that Hannah"

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked.

Rachel sighed as Hannah stood uncomfortably at the door, she didn't want to be too hard on her as she knew she would just be trying to fit in.

"What you're wearing ..well it's not really appropriate to go out in, especially in the middle of winter" Rachel said choosing her words carefully

"Oh right" Hannah said

"How about you go and change into something a bit warmer?"

"Okay" Hannah said before going off

Rachel shook her head as she left, Hannah was such a lovely girl, but she was very easily led by others, Rachel had also wondered why she was going around to Sophie's house, as it had never really been someone, she had been friends with before.

She waited a couple of minutes before knocking on Hannah's door, she was pleased to see she had changed but she still had the makeup on

"you might want to take the makeup off, I'll get you a wipe"

Hannah didn't argue and started rubbing at her face

Rachel sat down next to her on the bed and put an arm round her

"Is everything okay love?"

"Yeah why?"

"You've just seemed a bit quiet recently that's all"

"I'm okay" Hannah said

"You sure? You know we can always have a chat if you need to"

"Yeah I'm okay" Hannah said, not entirely convincingly

"Alright darling, do you want a lift to Sophie's?"

"Yes please"

Rachel decided to leave Gaby in charge at home and went out to the car with Hannah.

Hannah didn't really chat much on the way round

"Have a good time love, remember don't be late in"

"I won't"

Rachel smiled at her before driving off

When she got in she went back up to her study as she really wanted to get on with some work.

After about 15 minutes the phone started ringing

She waited a couple of seconds, hoping Gaby would answer it however when she didn't, she got up and went to answer.

To her surprise it was one of her old friends Daniel, they'd known each other since uni and had stayed in touch ever since, however it had been almost a year since they'd last seen each other

Daniel explained that he was living nearby now, him and his wife and split up and he'd ended up getting a job nearby.

After they'd been chatting a while Daniel asked Rachel if she'd like to meet up for a drink.

"Yeah I'd love that" Rachel said

"How about tonight?"

"I can't tonight, Amy's out and I don't really want to leave Gaby in charge of the house, it'd probably be burnt down by the time I got back" she said "You could always come round here though if you fancy?"

"Are you sure, I wouldn't want to intrude"

"Yes of course, it'll be nice to have a proper catch up, I've got a bottle of wine that needs using anyway"

"Right well I'll be round in about an hour then if that's good with you"

"Yep it'll be really nice to see you"

When she hung up the phone up she suddenly felt quite excited, she had always been close with David as a friend but now she started to wonder if maybe there was something more to it than that. However, this also made her feel quite nervous as there hadn't been anyone she'd been romantically involved with since her husband had died, and she still wasn't sure she was ready.

Rachel realised she was probably looking too deeply into this, after all it was just two friends having a drink together, but she still decided to get changed into something a bit nicer.

"Mum who was on the phone?" Gaby asked coming into the study

"Oh it was David, he's coming over for a drink"

"oh that'll be nice, you haven't seen him in ages"

"Yeah it will be I guess"

"Do you fancy him?"

"What? Of course, not he's just a friend Gaby!"

"oh right" Gaby said giggling slightly "But you're still going to get changed for him"

"Well yes because I wouldn't greet any guest we have around in jeans and a scruffy top funnily enough" Rachel retorted

"Well I never dress up when my friends come around" Gaby said

"Well I'm not a teenager, anymore am I?"

"I still think you fancy him"

"Oh, Gaby just button it will you, you've got an overactive imagination"

"Whatever you say" Gaby said before going off

Rachel shook her head at her as she went off before going into her room

She took her hair out of the bobble and straightened it again before reapplying her makeup. She pondered for a while over what to wear as she didn't want it to look like she'd made too much of an effort, in the end she decided on her black v neck cashmere jumper and some nice jeans, she sprayed some perfume too.

Rachel had just finished getting ready when Ivy walked into her room

"Rachel, I don't feel well" she said

Rachel went over to her and noticed she did look a bit washed out and when she put her hand to her forehead, she felt quite hot

"How don't you feel well?"

"I feel very shivery and sick and my back hurts"

"Oh dear, you've probably caught something from school, I'll get you some Calpol"

The two of them went downstairs and Rachel got her some medicine

"I think I'm going to go to bed for a bit I feel tired"

"Alright love, come and let me know if you get any worse okay?"

Ivy just nodded her head and then went back upstairs to bed

Rachel felt a bit worried about her, as it was very unusual for Ivy to ever get ill.

As the time got nearer for David to arrive Rachel started to feel quite nervous, she wasn't sure why exactly, she'd never before felt nervous about seeing him, she wondered why she felt differently this time, maybe it was because it had been a while since she last saw him

A little while later she heard a knock at the door so she went to answer it

"Hiya Rach" David said before coming in and giving her a hug

"Hi, it's so good to see you" she said smiling "Come on in I've got the wine ready"

The two of them went through to the living room with the wine

Rachel soon relaxed, they always did find it so easy to talk to one another, however tonight things did seem a bit different, there seemed to be a spark there that had never been there before. Rachel had always found him attractive, but he had a wife and so had never really seen him in that way before.

They'd managed to get through quite a lot of wine by now and were starting to feel quite tipsy.

All of a sudden David leaned into kiss her.

It took Rachel by surprise, but she leaned in too.

She couldn't believe this was happening, it all seemed so sudden, but it felt right at the same time

After a while they broke off

"Wow" David said "I'm sorry I don't know what happened I just .."

"Don't apologise" Rachel said smiling "We should probably go somewhere a bit more private though, how about we go upstairs?"

"Rachel are you sure? I mean I wouldn't want to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable"

"It's what i want David"

He didn't need telling twice, the two of them went upstairs and into Rachel's room. Luckily Ivy was asleep and Gaby was in her room watching a film so neither of them noticed the two of them coming upstairs. Rachel couldn't believe what she was doing, but she didn't want to stop.

He slowly started to get undressed and so did she.

Ivy had been asleep for a little while when suddenly she woke up, she felt terrible and she also realised she must have had an accident while she'd been asleep as her bed was all wet.

She felt upset about this as it hadn't happened in ages, and she couldn't understand why it had happened tonight. However she decided to go and get Rachel straight away as she'd always been really nice about it if ever it happened.

Ivy was feeling really dizzy and sick and as soon as she got out of bed began to shiver. She went downstairs looking for Rachel but couldn't find her down there, she was confused as she didn't think she'd be in bed by now

As she was coming up the stairs, she bumped into Gaby who was coming down for a drink

"Ivy I thought you were asleep, are you okay you look awful"

"I need Rachel" Ivy said crying

"Is she not downstairs?"

"No"

"Oh right, I thought she had David round but maybe he's gone, she must be in her room"

Gaby was worried about Ivy as she really did look awful and she was shaking

"Do you not feel well?"

"I feel really poorly" Ivy cried "and I've had an accident" she said which made her cry even more

"Oh don't worry about that, Mum won't be cross or anything I promise, come on we'll go and get her now"

"Okay" Ivy said tearfully

Gaby helped her upstairs, she knocked once on the door before walking in

Gaby got the shock of her life when she saw her Mum laid in bed next to David, both of them had no clothes on however luckily the quilt was covering them

Rachel gasped when she saw the two of them, it was hard to tell who was the most embarrassed Gaby, Rachel or David

"Ivy needs you" Gaby said before running off, she couldn't believe what she'd just seen

Ivy was a bit confused but clearly didn't register what was going on.

"Erm ivy what's the matter?" Rachel asked her cheeks burning red

"I really don't feel well" Ivy said "And I've had an accident"

"Alright love go and wait in your room, I'll be along in a sec" she said as calmly as possible

Rachel couldn't believe what had just happened, she didn't know how she was going to face Gaby and explain it to her

"Oh my god Rachel I'm so sorry"

"It's hardly your fault" Rachel sighed

"I should probably go" he said, quickly getting changed "I'll call you"

He went as quickly as possible leaving Rachel alone, she felt absolutely mortified about everything. She wanted to try and sort things out with Gaby there and then, but she knew she had to sort out Ivy first, she just couldn't believe the timing of it all

She quickly put some pyjamas and her dressing gown on before going across to ivy's room

When she went in Ivy was sat on her bed

She really did look awful, she was sweating loads and her face was as white as a sheet

"Hey love, are you feeling awful?"

"Yeah and I've wet the bed" Ivy cried

"I know, it's okay don't worry about it, it's just because you're not feeling very well that's all, come on jump up let's get you sorted"

Ivy changed her pyjamas as Rachel stripped the bed

"Rachel who was that man in your bed?" Ivy asked curiously

"Erm he was just a friend" Rachel said as she bundled the sheets together

"Why was he in your bed?"

"Pass me those pyjamas Ivy" She said desperately trying to avoid the conversation "I'll just nip down with these things, wait here I wont be long"

As Rachel put everything in the washing machine, she kept going over what had happened, she really did feel awful about it and it was setting such a bad example to Gaby.

She went back upstairs and into Ivy's room to put down a fresh sheet.

"Rachel why was that man in your bed?" Ivy asked again

"Well he needed somewhere to stay tonight that's all"

"Oh okay" Ivy said

Rachel sighed with relief, Ivy didn't seem to want to question it anymore

"You look awful Ivy" Rachel said, "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere and my back feels really sore" Ivy said

"Oh dear, we'll have to keep a close eye on you" she said, "Do you want to go in my bed for tonight?"

"Yes please"

"Okay, I won't be along for a while though but shout if you need anything"

After ivy had gone off into her room, she knew she'd have to speak to Gaby, she really didn't know how she was going to face her though

Felling quite nervous she went over to her room and knocked on the door

"Gab can I come in?"

"Yeah" Gaby said

When she walked in Gaby didn't want to make eye contact, she felt so awkward about what she'd just seen

Rachel went and sat down on the bed next to her "Gaby I'm really sorry, you shouldn't have had to see that"

"It's okay" Gaby mumbled her cheeks burning red

"No, it's not okay, I know it shouldn't have happened, it's always going to be difficult seeing me with someone who isn't your Dad and it was totally stupid of me especially while you were in the house"

"I don't mind seeing you with someone that isn't dad, I'd just rather not see you in bed with them"

Rachel cringed hearing Gaby say this

"I know and I'm sorry, really I am, we'd had a lot to drink and …"

"Right I'll try using that excuse when I start properly going out with boys" Gaby said laughing slightly now

"You better not!" Rachel replied "Although I know I'm setting a terrible example"

"It's okay, you can do what you like"

"No I can't, I need to think of you and I know you wouldn't want me to move on from your Dad"

"Mum Dad died nearly 2 years ago now, we need to move on from him, I still love him but he wouldn't want you to never love anyone else again" Gaby said "I don't mind you having another boyfriend … I mean obviously I mind seeing .. you know … but I wouldn't care if you started seeing someone else, I've always liked David"

Rachel couldn't believe how mature Gaby was being about it all, she thought she'd be furious

"So are you and David going to get together?"

"Oh I don't know Gaby it's very early days, we rushed into things tonight and we shouldn't have done"

"Well I don't know how I'm ever going to face him if you do see him again" Gaby said laughing "but I hope you do"

"Thanks Gaby, thanks so much for understanding and I really am sorry for what you saw"

"Don't worry, it'll make a funny story to tell people at school"

Rachel looked horrified for a moment but then she saw Gaby's face and realised she was joking

"This goes no where Gaby" she said sounding strict

"Don't worry Mum, you know I'd never do that"

"I bloody well hope you not" she said, "Do you fancy watching some TV together or something?"

"Can we watch love actually, it'll make me feel Christmassy"

"Sure, come on let's go downstairs"

"Is Ivy okay?"

"She's not very well at all, she's saying her back hurts which might mean it's a kidney infection, I hope not though, they can be really nasty"

"She looked awful before, I'd better go and check on her actually" she said "You get the film set up and I'll see how she's doing"

She went back up to her room and went to check on ivy, but she was fast asleep

Rachel and Gaby had been watching the film for a little while when suddenly Rachel realised Hannah hadn't come back yet and it was way past 9

"Gaby Hannah isn't back" Rachel said sounding worried

"She was meant to be back ages ago"

"I know I said be back for 9, oh god I hope she's okay"

"Why don't you call her"

Rachel grabbed her mobile and called Hannah but there was no answer. Suddenly she started to feel worried, she wondered what could have happened.

"Gaby will you try calling her"

"Sure"

Gaby tried calling her but there was no answer.

"Oh I've got her on snapchat I'll see if she's got her maps on we'll be able to see where she is"

"I didn't know Hannah had snapchat and she better not have that stupid maps thing on, I hate the idea of it" she said

"Well it'd be kind of useful if she did right now wouldn't it"

Gaby opened it up and saw that Hannah was in some woods nearby

"What the hell is she doing there, loads of teenagers hang out there doing all sorts" Rachel said worried

"I'll try calling her again" Gaby said knowing she was more likely to answer her than Rachel

This time Hannah answered

"Hello"

"Hannah where are you?"

"At Stanley woods" she said sounding really uncomfortable

"Why are you there?" Gaby asked "You were meant to be home by 9"

"Oh I forgot"

Gaby could hear loads of people shouting in the background

"Do you want me to walk and meet you" Gaby offered "you don't want to walk back alone"

"no erm it's okay" Hannah said

Gaby was about to reply when Hannah hung up

"She can't walk back from there alone it's rough as anything"

"I'll go and pick her up" Rachel said but then she remembered how much wine she'd had "Or on second thoughts I'd better walk, you stay here and look after Ivy"

Rachel grabbed her coat and boots and set off

It was only a 10-minute walk but even Rachel felt a bit intimidated walking over, there were loads of teenage boys shouting stuff at her

Eventually Rachel found Hannah, she was sat with a couple of friends in her year and a load of other kids a lot older than she was

Hannah felt mortified when she saw her auntie

Rachel felt really angry at Hannah for staying out so late but didn't want to make a fuss in front of all the others, especially given some were her pupils

"Hannah come on we're going home" Rachel said causing the others to laugh

"No I'm staying here" Hannah said

"No you're not we're going home, come on"

"Sophie, Lucy and Kate hadn't you better come home too?"

"No Mum said I can stay till 10"

Rachel didn't think this was very safe but there wasn't really much she could do

"Hannah we're going come on"

After quite a bit more arguing Hannah reluctantly got up and followed Rachel

"Have you got any idea how angry I am at you" Rachel said as soon as they were out the way of the others

"I don't care"

"What the hells gotten into you?" Rachel said raising her voice now

"Nothing"

"You can lose the attitude with me right now young lady, you're in real trouble"

"I don't care" Hannah said again, although tears were starting to form in her eyes

Rachel chose to ignore her and practically dragged her home

"I'm going up to my room"

"Oh no you're not, you can stay here and answer a few questions"

"I don't want to"

"Tough, I want to know what you were doing with all those people"

"I don't want to talk about it" Hannah shouted

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me"

"You're not my mum so don't try and pretend to be, you never wanted me to stay here, you hated my Mum I bet you're glad she's dead"

Rachel was shocked at her saying this, she didn't know what to say

Hannah ran upstairs, and Rachel didn't stop her

"Mum what was all that about?" Gaby asked when Rachel walked into the living room

"Oh god don't ask" Rachel sighed "I found Hannah with loads of older kids and then she was really disrespectful to me so obviously I got annoyed and then she just came out with all this stuff about how I hated her Mum"

"Oh that's not like Hannah"

"Yeah and it's not true either, I loved Mel even if she was a pain in the butt, I was devastated when she died"

"Yeah I know, Hannah knows it too she's just annoyed at you"

"I don't know, she seemed really upset"

"Just give her some time to cool off, she'll be fine after a while"

Rachel sighed, part of her wanted to confront Hannah straight away, however she knew it was best to let her cool off for a bit first.

She sat with Gaby for a while before deciding to see Hannah, she'd calmed down quite a bit by now so hoped Hannah had too.

She went upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door

When there was no answer, she walked in

Hannah's eyes were red so she could tell she'd been crying

"Rachel I'm sorry for what I said and for not being home on time"

Rachel sighed and went and sat down on the bed next to her

"It wasn't true what you said you know, I absolutely do want you here and I loved your Mum to bits"

"Why did you always argue then?"

"Darling adults argue all the time over really stupid things, but it doesn't mean anything. Do you never argue with Gaby or Amy?"

"Yeah I guess"

"So don't you ever think that I wanted anything bad to happen to your Mum, because that couldn't be further from the truth"

"I know, I don't know why I said it. I fell out with all my friends the other day and I've just been really upset ever since"

"Why didn't you tell me you'd fallen out with them all"

"I don't know" Hannah said starting to cry

Rachel put an arm around her "Oh love, do you want to talk about it"

"No not really"

"Okay, but you know we can chat whenever"

"I know and I really am sorry"

"It's okay, but please don't let me catch you in those woods again its not safe"

"It won't happen again"

"Okay, I love you"

"love you too"

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	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It was a Thursday afternoon and Rachel had finally managed to get a few moments to herself after a busy day, she felt like she'd not stopped all afternoon. She decided to quickly check her phone and saw that she had a text from David, about a month had passed since she'd first met up with David and things were going really well, the girls seemed to be totally fine with him which was a big relief for Rachel, however, they were only taking things slowly at the moment.

She was just about to reply when there was a knock at the door, Rachel sighed, she might have known 2 minutes peace was too much to ask for.

"Come in" she shouted

Rachel was surprised to see Hannah walk in, immediately Rachel got the impression this wasn't going to be good news whatever it was.

"Hannah what are you doing out of class?" she asked

Hannah had been in trouble a few times already this week both at home and at school and Rachel was starting to get fed up of it.

"I got sent here" she mumbled

"Well I hope it's for something good, but from the look on your face I gather it isn't" she sighed, she really wasn't in the mood for this, especially after such a stressful day

"I've been sent here to do my work"

"Why what did you do?"

Hannah just shrugged her shoulders

"Don't shrug your shoulders at me when I'm talking to you, tell me what you did"

"I got into trouble in French for being cheeky and for not listening, and then Miss asked me to leave but I said no and she said that if I didn't go to the cooler I'd have to go to you, but I didn't go there so I had to come here"

"So, you've been acting up all afternoon then huh, Hannah I am sick of your behaviour, the teachers who work in this school deserve better than to have to deal with your poor attitude, if you want to be a student at this school then it stops right now" she said firmly

"It's not fair everyone else was acting up but everyone always just picks on me" Hannah shouted

"Mind your tone" Rachel said icily "you admitted yourself you were acting up, you know fine well if a teacher asks you to do something you do it, no questions asked"

Hannah didn't say anything just stared at the ground, she'd been feeling so angry and upset all of this week and couldn't understand why, she just kept picking arguments with everyone for no real reason, it made her feel horrible afterwards, but she just couldn't seem to help it.

"Right well you can spend the rest of the afternoon in here, you can spend the afternoon writing a letter of apology to Miss Haydock, at least 2 sides of A4"

"But I've got my work to finish"

"You can do that as homework"

"That's so unfair" Hannah said

"Tough, you can also do 20 minutes after school detention for the next week"

"But I'm going to the park tonight"

"No you're not"

"Why" Hannah shouted

"You don't actually expect me to answer that do you? Aside from the fact your behaviour this week has been completely unacceptable, I hate you going to that park it's not safe, there's been loads of trouble there recently"

Hannah opened her mouth to argue

"And don't you even think about arguing with me, now get on with your work"

Hannah took as long as possible to stroppily sit down and start writing.

"I mean it Hannah lose the attitude right now, it doesn't work on me" Rachel warned

When she'd started, Rachel got her phone out to text David back

"I thought we weren't allowed phones out during school" Hannah said

"You're already treading on thin ice, I'd think really carefully before you say anything else"

Hannah knew better than to push it any further. She hated feeling so angry all the time, but she couldn't help it.

She'd been working for about half an hour, when her stomach started to really hurt. She ignored it at first but then she started to feel really sick.

"is it okay if I go to the toilet?" she asked

"yes, if you go straight there and back, without chatting to any of your friends on the way"

"Okay" Hannah said

She got up and went across to the toilets, when she went, she realised that she'd come on her period. She felt really surprised by this as she wasn't really expecting it, it was still quite new to her as it had only happened twice before, so she still found it quite frightening. Her stomach seemed really sore as well this time and she felt sick.

Suddenly she started to cry, she didn't know why she was just feeling really emotional and just generally rubbish, she didn't have any pads with her either so just used toilet paper.

After a couple of minutes, she went back to her aunties office

"What took you so long, I told you to be quick" Rachel snapped

"I want to go home" Hannah said

"Why?" Rachel asked "What's the matter?"

Hannah didn't really want to tell her auntie what was wrong, she still found it really embarrassing and it wasn't as if Rachel was in the best mood anyway.

"I don't feel very well" Hannah said, her voice broke as she said it and tears began to fall down her face

"Well that's come on quite suddenly" Rachel said, however her voice was gentler than it had been earlier, "How don't you feel well?"

"my stomach really hurts and I feel sick" Hannah cried

"Well its not that long to the end of school, why don't you just have a lie down on the sofa for 10 minutes"

"Okay" Hannah mumbled

A little while past and Hannah's stomach was still really sore, she felt as if she was going to be sick so got up to go to the toilet again

Rachel was getting a bit worried about her now as she really didn't seem that well.

When Hannah went to the toilet she started to cry again, she felt awful, she realised she was going to have to tell Rachel about it too as it seemed quite heavy.

She walked back up to the office

"Hannah are you alright" Rachel asked, coming and sitting down next to her on the sofa

"I just don't feel well" Hannah said

"It's come on really quickly" Rachel said, she wasn't sure if she believed her or not, but she could tell something was wrong

"I know but I'm not lying" Hannah said

"Is it just your stomach?"

"Kind of"

"What do you mean?"

"I think I've come on my period again and it's really heavy" Hannah mumbled, tears started to fall down her face

Rachel felt sorry for Hannah now, she could see how scared and embarrassed she was. Despite the way she'd been acting recently she was still just a little kid really

"Okay, have you got any pads with you?" She said calmly

"No"

"Right well I've got some in my bag I think" she said "you can take it with you, there in the back pocket"

"Thanks"

Hannah went off and a couple of minutes later she came back

"Rachel I really don't feel that well" Hannah cried " I just want to go home; can we go home?"

Rachel sat down on the sofa and gestured for Hannah to do the same

"I know it's not very nice especially when you're not used to it, but I can't really let you go home"

"Why?"

"Love if everyone took a day off every time they had their period there'd never be anyone in the school" Rachel said "Although I do understand it really is a pain"

"I've felt weird all week that's why I've been mean to everyone"

"I know it can be hard when your hormones are all over the place, but I'm afraid you've just got to learn to control it, your behaviour this week has been awful, and you can't use this as an excuse"

"I know I'm sorry"

"Well I hope this will be the last of it Hannah"

"it will I promise"

"Okay well I'll say no more about this afternoon, but I do want you to finish that letter off" she said "There's only half an hour to the bell goes now, so we'll be able to go home soon anyway"

"I wish I was a boy, nothing happens to boys" Hannah said

"I know, boys have it easy compared to us"

The next half an hour past quite quickly and before long it was the end of the school day, Amy and Gaby came up soon after.

"hey girls how was school"

"It was good, I'm going to a party at the weekend" Amy said

"is that code for, would it be okay if I go to a party please?"

"Why should I have to have to ask permission?"

"Because you're 15 years old living in my house"

Amy rolled her eyes

"And if you roll your eyes at me you won't be going at all"

"Please can I go then" Amy said a little sarcastically

"We'll see how your behaviour is young lady"

Amy sighed, Rachel could be hard work sometimes, even if they did get on well most of the time.

"How about you Gaby, did school go okay for you?" Rachel asked

She'd been a little bit worried about Gaby recently, she'd just seemed a bit down and not her usual self.

"Yeah" Gaby said

"Is everything alright?" Rachel asked, as Gaby had sounded a bit flat.

"Yeah I'm fine"

"Okay, let's get going then"

When they got home Rachel just wanted to relax after a stressful day, almost as soon as she got in she went upstairs and tied her hair back and put on some jogging bottoms and her comfy sweater and took her makeup off. She would always do this when she came home from work, it would always help her to unwind.

She then went downstairs and decided to do some cleaning as the house was starting to look a bit untidy.

After tidying the living room, she went into the kitchen, she found Gaby at the table with some school work out. Rachel noticed that she had dark circles round her eyes, she looked stressed too.

"Do you fancy a coffee Gab, I'm just making one?"

"Oh yes please" Gaby said "Can I have mine black"

"Sure"

After she'd made them Rachel went and sat back down with Gaby

"How much work have you got to do tonight?"

"Loads" Gaby said "and I've still got to revise for our science tests tomorrow"

Rachel had noticed over the last month or so that Gaby had been taking her school work very seriously, she seemed determined to come top in everything, although Rachel had been happy about it at first, she was beginning to get a bit worried as she didn't seem to do much outside her work at the moment

"There only mocks Gaby and you've done really well in all your other tests"

"no, I haven't" Gaby said sounding as though she was on the verge of tears

"Your scores have all been within the top 10% of your year group" Rachel said "All your teachers are saying how well you're doing"

"I'm still not doing well enough, If I want to do medicine, I have to come top in everything"

"Gab I know at the moment you've got your heart set on doing medicine, which Is fantastic, but, you've still got years to think about it, you might change your mind completely in a year or so, so don't get too hung up on it, there's no rush at all for you to decide what you want to do"

"I'm not going to change my mind"

"Just don't stress yourself out too much over it that's all I'm saying" she said "Why don't you finish off and just have a night off, go and see your friends or something"

"Oh you just don't understand" Gaby snapped, she gathered her stuff up and went off to her bedroom

Rachel was taken aback by Gaby's outburst, after all it wasn't as if they'd really been arguing.

Gaby ran straight upstairs, as soon as she got into her room she started to cry, her life just seemed to be spiralling out of control at the moment. She never seemed to feel happy anymore and was trying to gain control again by dieting. She'd managed so well with her food since being discharged from hospital, but now it seemed to be taking over her life again, she'd also started to hurt herself, she had cut her skin a few times, at first it seemed to help but now every time she did it, she felt ashamed, she just didn't know how to stop. Nobody knew anything about it though and she was determined to keep it that way.

Because of how miserable she'd been Gaby had been snapping at everyone a lot more, she felt awful when she did but she just couldn't seem to help it. Part of her had wanted to talk to her Mum about it but she didn't want to stress her out, especially after everything that had happened last time. She knew she just had to deal with this on her own.

About twenty minutes later there was a knock at her door

"Yeah"

Rachel came in and sat down on the bed "Hey Gab I just wanted to check you were okay?"

"I'm fine, sorry for snapping"

"It's alright, we can all get a bit stressed sometimes, you are alright though aren't you?"

"yeah"

"Okay, well you know where I am if ever you want to talk"

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	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Set 3 days later

It was the Sunday afternoon and Rachel was at an important conference in Manchester for the day, so she had left Amy in charge. She'd felt a bit nervous leaving her alone with everyone, but there was no one else available to look after them and Amy was pretty responsible.

Amy was quite enjoying having the run of the house, she'd been a bit down over the last few days, so it was doing her good to have something to distract her. Amy had been seeing a boy called Jamie for quite a while now, she really liked him, and he liked her too, last week they'd decided to sleep with each other for the first time. Amy had felt so sure it was the right thing to do, however, since then he'd been really distant with her and Amy just didn't understand what was going on, it was really starting to upset her though, she thought he loved her but since he hadn't been back in touch, she couldn't help but think maybe he was just using her to sleep with.

Amy was so engrossed in her own thoughts she didn't even notice Hannah coming into the kitchen.

"Amy I don't feel that well" Hannah said

Amy jumped when she heard Hannah as she didn't realise anyone was there

"Oh how come?"

"My stomach hurts" Hannah said, she'd been feeling rubbish ever since Thursday

"Is it your period?" Amy asked gently

Hannah went red and nodded her head

"You don't have to be embarrassed, I know what a pain they can be, I'll get you some paracetamol"

"It's horrible I hate it" Hannah said sounding really upset

"I know, they do get easier though, you get used to it after a while" Amy said "I always find putting a hot water bottle on my stomach helps, maybe you could try that"

"Yeah I'll give it a go" Hannah said

"It's worth a try" Amy said "I'm just about to do some lunch for everyone, what do you fancy"

"Maybe pizza"

"Well that's easy enough, I better do some salad with it too or Rachel will be after me"

"I can help if you want" Hannah offered

"Oh that'd be fab if you don't mind" Amy said "You could chop some spring onions up for me"

The two of them got some stuff out and got started

"Amy can I ask you something"

"Sure"

"Have you kissed a boy before, like properly"

Amy laughed, she wondered why Hannah was asking "Yeah I guess I have"

"What's it like?"

"Erm it's alright I guess"

"How old were you when you first kissed someone?"

"About 13 probably" Amy said "Why do you ask? I hope you're not thinking of kissing any boys"

"Well no but … how do you know when a guy likes you?"

"Well I guess he wants to spend lots of time around you, and you just seem to get on"

"is that what it was like for you and Jamie"

"Yeah I suppose" Amy said but she wasn't so sure anymore "What's with all these questions, have you got a mystery boyfriend or something"

"No … well not really, there is this one boy in my year he's called Dan, we got on well and stuff but I don't know if I want him to be my boyfriend"

"At the risk of sounding like Rachel, you are a bit too young to be having boyfriends Han, just enjoy being friends for now"

"I suppose you're right"

"Trust me boys are more trouble than they're worth" Amy said sighing

They chatted for a bit longer and before long lunch was ready, so Amy shouted them all down

Ivy and Gaby soon came down and sat at the table

They all started eating, except Gaby who was just playing with her food. She was trying to be as subtle as possible about her eating as she knew Rachel would cotton onto it soon if she didn't watch out. She felt just so generally low all the time that she didn't fancy her food much anyways, it felt different to last time, it wasn't about wanting to be skinny, it was just about her desperately wanting to gain control over some area of her life. At the moment she just felt so overwhelmed by everything and didn't know how to cope.

The other girls were all chatting and laughing but Gaby barely said a word, after a while she got up and subtly put her food in the bin before going upstairs and into her room. She was trying to revise for a Maths test she had tomorrow, but nothing seemed to be going in.

The rest of the afternoon went quite quickly, and it didn't seem long before Rachel got back.

Rachel was really impressed when she saw how tidy the house was, she was expecting to have to spend ages cleaning when she got back. She walked into the kitchen and saw Amy

"Hey love, how's everything been? You've kept the house lovely and tidy"

"Yeah it's all been fine, how was the conference"

"Oh it was alright, it just dragged a bit towards the end, so has everyone been okay?"

"Yeah, I took Ivy to the park this morning, Hannah came with us but Gaby stayed and then this afternoon Hannah, Gaby and me have all been doing homework and Ivy's been playing on the wii"

"Wow I might have to leave you in charge more often, sounds like you've done a better job than me at organising everyone" she said smiling slightly

"Hannah wasn't feeling very well earlier, so I gave her some paracetamol" she said "and Gab's been really quiet all day, I feel like I've barely seen her"

"Amy Gaby hasn't said anything to you about anything has she?" Rachel said, as she couldn't help but feel a bit worried about her

"Like what?"

"I don't know she's just seemed really down lately"

"No, I do know what you mean though" Amy said "It's probably just hormones though, I was the same when I was her age"

"hmm maybe" Rachel said but she still felt something didn't feel quite right

"Do you fancy a coffee, I'm just about to make one"

"You know what I'd love one, I'm just going to nip upstairs to get changed, I'm desperate to get out of my work stuff" she said "I'll be down in 2 minutes"

Rachel went upstairs, she said hello to Ivy, before knocking on Gaby's door

She then walked in, she found Gaby at her computer looking at some Maths revision site

"Oh hi Mum" Gaby said, dragging her eyes away from the screen

"Hey, how's your day been"

"Fine, just been doing some work"

"I know Amy said, are you nearly finished"

"No I've still got loads to do"

"blimey Gaby I don't think I've ever known anyone take their year 9 mocks so seriously" Rachel said

"Well in assembly you told us they were really serious and that they'll be using them to decide our GCSE sets"

"Well yeah partly, though strictly between you and me I might have said that to try and scare some of the boys in your year to actually do slightly more than 10 minutes of revision right before the exam"

"Oh right"

"Me and Amy are just going to have a coffee, do you fancy one?"

"No it's alright thanks"

"Okay, try and have a little rest from revision though yeah?"

Gaby nodded so Rachel went out and went into her bedroom to get changed.

It felt nice to get into her comfy clothes, she pulled her hair back and put it in a bobble before going out.

She realised she hadn't checked on Hannah yet so went into her room

"Hey Hannah, you okay?"

"Yeah just finishing off some homework"

"Ah that's good to hear, Amy said your stomach was bothering you earlier, is it better now?"

"A bit"

"Okay well if there's anything you need just give me a shout okay?"

"Yeah okay"

"I'll make a start on tea soon"Rachel then went downstairs and sat down with Amy.

"Are you not seeing Jamie at all this weekend Amy?" Rachel asked

Rachel knew Amy and Jamie were going out, he'd been round to their house quite a bit and Rachel had grown quite fond of him recently.

Amy just shook her head

"Have you two had a row or something?"

"No, well not really" Amy said "It's complicated"

"Oh has something happened then?"

Amy thought for a moment, she hadn't told Rachel that she'd slept with Jamie yet, she wasn't sure how she'd react, but then she began to think maybe she should let her know.

"I guess" Amy said

"What is it?"

"Can I talk to you about sex?" Amy said nervously

Rachel took a sharp breath, she had a pretty good idea where this was leading, she'd kind of guessed this was going to happen soon as they had been going out a while now, she couldn't help but feel emotional though, she knew she had to try and stay as calm as possible, after all she did want Amy to be able to come to her in the future

"yeah" Rachel said "Is there something that you want to tell me?"

Amy nodded

"last week me and Jamie slept together for the first time"

"Okay" Rachel said calmly "and was it something that you wanted to do? He didn't pressurise you into it?"

"No we both thought it felt like the right time" Amy said

"And did you use protection?"

"Yeah, I promise we did"

"Okay" Rachel said

Amy couldn't believe how calm Rachel was being, she thought she might get mad. It made her wish that she'd told her sooner.

"You're not angry?"

"No, you've been going out with him a while and I trust you to make the right decisions. Although I do think we should book you a doctor's appointment, see about going on the pill"

"I don't know if they'll be any need, Jamie has barely spoken to me since it happened" Amy said, suddenly bursting into tears

"Oh love" Rachel said putting an arm around her "have you spoken to him at all about what happened?"

"well sort of but he's just been so distant, what if he was just using me?"

"I'm sure he wasn't Amy, I could tell how much he likes you."

"Then why isn't he talking to me?"

"The thing is, sex when you're in age but especially when you're younger carries with it an awful lot of emotions and sometimes when you're your age it can be difficult to process all of those emotions, maybe he's just finding it all a bit difficult"

"I suppose that makes sense, I just wish he'd call me"

"You call him"

"I'm scared, what if he breaks up with me"

"I'm almost certain he won't, but surely either way, you need to know where you stand"

"I guess you're right, I'll do it now"

"You'll feel better for it"

Amy looked as if she wanted to say something but seemed a bit nervous

"Was there something else?" Rachel asked

"Kind of, I was just wondering … well is it normal for it to really hurt?"

"For the first few times yes, and it can certainly feel a bit uncomfortable, but after a while it shouldn't be painful at all"

"Oh okay, thanks Rach …you know for being so chilled about it"

"That's alright, go and call him"

Amy smiled at her before going off upstairs

Rachel sat for a few minutes sipping her coffee, she really hoped Amy could sort it our with Jamie, especially after what had happened, she didn't want her getting hurt

She was in a world of her own when Hannah came downstairs

Rachel saw her going in the cupboard for a bag of crisps

"Hannah it'll be tea in half an hour" Rachel said "Put them back"

"I'm starving"

"I'm sure you can wait 30 minutes" Rachel sighed "but if you're that hungry have an apple"

Hannah made a face and put the crisps back

"Have you finished your homework yet?"

"Nearly" she said

"Remember you're doing detention tomorrow"

"But I said I'd meet Holly after school"

"Tough I'm afraid, you should have thought about that before"

Hannah rolled her eyes but didn't argue back, instead she went back upstairs.

A few minutes later Amy came back downstairs, Rachel was pleased to see that she was smiling

"How did it go? Did you sort everything out?"

"Yeah, he explained everything to me, it was kind of like you said, he's just been feeling really emotional and everything since it happened and he was worried I didn't want to I think, but we talked everything through"

"Oh good, well I'm glad you're sorted, he's such a nice boy"

"Can I go around to see him after school tomorrow"

"I guess so as long as you finish off your homework"

"I will do"

Gaby was working on her computer, but she could barely concentrate at all, the screen kept going all blurry and she felt really sick and dizzy, she didn't feel right at all. Her heart was racing too.

Rachel called them down to dinner, she got up, but she felt really weird and distant.

All of the girls sat down at the table and started eating.

Gaby felt a bit shaky and sick.

The other girls were all chatting and laughing together but Gaby wasn't saying anything.

"Rachel do we have an assembly tomorrow?" Hannah asked

"It's Monday you always have assembly on a Monday"

"Is it with you?" Hannah asked

"Yes, it is, there's no need to look so thrilled about it" Rachel said sarcastically

"They always go on for ages it's so boring" Hannah said

"Oh well thanks for the vote of confidence"

"There not as bad as some of the others we've had to be fair" Amy chipped in "Remember when those weird religious people came in and gave us all bibles at the end"

"oh yeah" Hannah said laughing "That was so funny"

"Well surely you'd rather be in assembly than a double maths lesson"

"I guess assemblies easier to wag off" Amy said

"You better not!" Rachel said

"I'm joking" Amy said laughing at Rachel's face

"Well it wouldn't be the first time would it?"

"I suppose not" Amy said

They all continued to chat, Gaby just looked at them, she still felt really strange and seeing the way her Mum was chatting and laughing with the others just made her feel all weird, she couldn't help but feel she preferred spending time with them now to her. She just couldn't cope with everything that was happening at the moment, things kept whizzing through her mind, she was thinking about her Maths test tomorrow, and that made her feel sick. Her hands felt all sweaty and her chest felt tight, she didn't know why she felt like this, she knew it wasn't just the Maths test, but she just didn't seem to be able to handle anything.

Her head was pounding, and she felt scared, she looked at the plate of food in front of her, but she could barely see it, it looked all blurry and kept moving round.

Suddenly, Gaby felt tears form in her eyes, her breathing was becoming more rapid

No one noticed the state Gaby was in at first, they were too busy talking and eating, however, Amy looked up and saw Gaby sobbing.

"Gaby" Amy said sounding shocked

When Amy said that, they all looked up at Gaby

Gaby could feel everyone staring at her and it made me feel even worse

Rachel was shocked when she saw her, she hadn't even noticed that she was upset, she could tell Gaby was in a state and she needed to get her out of the kitchen, but she wanted to do it as calmly as possible as she knew, no matter what was wrong, Gaby wouldn't want a big fuss made in front of everyone

Gaby just sat there, she couldn't stop crying and she felt completely helpless

"Gab, let's go outside for a few minutes love" Rachel said calmly "You three stay there and finish your dinner"

Rachel got up and walked over to Gaby and took her hand to help her up

Gaby let her Mum lead her out of the kitchen

"Come on, let's get you out of here, we'll go somewhere quiet" Rachel said putting an arm around her "it's alright Gaby, you're nice and safe"

Rachel didn't have a clue what was going on, but she realised she needed to stay as calm as possible

"Mum I don't know what's wrong" Gaby stammered feeling all confused

"That's okay, let's get you sat down" Rachel said, she took her through to the back room and sat her down on the sofa

She crouched down beside her

"Now you don't have to explain anything to me at all, all I want you to do is take some nice deep breaths okay?"

Gaby did as she was told

"Mum your tea will go cold" Gaby said, she was still feeling all confused

"don't worry about that, I'm not going to go hungry, besides I've done nothing but pig out on cakes and biscuits at that conference all day, so I dare say it won't do me any harm"

Gaby laughed slightly at this, she was starting to feel a little bit better.

Rachel got up and sat down next to her

"I don't understand it I just felt so weird"

"I think you had a bit of a panic attack, it's horrible I know" Rachel said "don't worry though, you're completely safe and we can stay in here for as long as you need to, you don't have to tell me anything at all, not if you don't want to"

"Thankyou" Gaby mumbled "I'm really sorry I made you come away from dinner"

"Hey don't be silly, besides all I was getting was a load of abuse about my assemblies anyway" she said laughing "How are you feeling now?"

"Okay" Gaby said but her voice trembled, and she started to cry again

Rachel put her arms round her and pulled her into her chest.

Gaby started sobbing properly again

"Hey Gab it's alright, shh it's okay" Rachel soothed

A minute or so later Gaby sat up

"I'm sorry …I don't know why I feel ..like this" she said through tears

"Don't be sorry Gaby, you've got nothing to apologise for, but I do want you to know that if you have got something you want to say to me I'm not going to get mad or be shocked, I'm just going to listen"

There was a lot Gaby could tell her Mum, but she didn't feel ready to just yet, not all of it anyway

"I just …want to do well, and I'm just so scared I'm not going to, and if I know you say they're not serious, but I'm so stressed about the mocks and just school, I need to get top marks and everything but what if I don't? I just can't do it all though, and I know I'm not going to do well in the exams and then what if they put me in low sets and I can't do the higher papers, I need to get the best grades in everything or I can't do medicine, I just can't cope anymore and I know I'm going to do terribly tomorrow and I'm going to let everyone down" Gaby said sobbing

It broke Rachel's heart hearing Gaby talk like this, she had no idea of the pressure she'd been putting on herself, she would never want any child to feel like this especially her own daughter

"Oh Gaby" Rachel whispered "You've been working yourself too hard, no one can function when they're under that amount of stress you poor thing, you know, all I ever really want is for you to do your best and be happy, I don't care what grades you get or where you come in school as long as you've tried hard I absolutely promise you that."

"But I'm so scared of doing badly"

"Love you're never going to do badly, trust me school work is never ever worth getting this upset about, and this is coming from a head teacher."

"What if I don't do well tomorrow though" Gaby sobbed

"Sweetheart, it's a mock exam, a silly little test we give out to year 9s to try and get some of the lazy whatsits in your year to actually spend the odd 10 minutes on school work, it is absolutely nothing to get stressed over" Rachel said

"I've just been getting so worried about everything and I didn't know how to cope and I …"

"Go on it's alright" Rachel encouraged

Gaby realised she couldn't keep it a secret much longer, it was all getting too much she needed to let it out

"I've started cutting my wrist sometime and I haven't been eating properly" Gaby admitted though tears, she felt so ashamed saying this, she couldn't even look Rachel in the eye

Rachel was so shocked when she heard this, she couldn't believe she'd missed this, she felt so awful that Gaby had been doing this to herself, but she knew she couldn't let this show, she realised it must be a massive thing for Gaby to tell her

"Okay" she said gently "Do you want to talk to me about that?"

Gaby couldn't believe her Mums reaction "Why aren't you shouting at me?" Gaby asked

"I told you Gaby I'm not going to shout or get mad, I don't think you need that right now do you?" Rachel said "do you think you can tell me why you do it"

"It just helps sometimes, when everything seems out of control and I get stressed, it just kind of helps" Gaby cried

"I understand that" Rachel said "Can I have a look at your wrist, just to check there's no infection there"

Gaby rolled her sleeve up, Rachel nearly started crying when she saw it, some of the cuts looked nasty

"Gab, why didn't you tell me about this sooner huh?"

"I don't know, I just didn't want to let you down"

"Oh love" she sighed "I think everything's just way too much for you at the moment isn't it huh? And I think its making you feel quite unwell"

"Yeah" Gaby cried

"You know what I think?"

"What"

"I think maybe you need a little bit of time off school, so we can get you some proper help and support"

"What about my mocks"

"Don't you worry about anything like that love, we just need to get you sorted out. You've been so brave telling me all that you have tonight and now that you have, it's not just your problem anymore, things are going to start getting better I promise"

Gaby felt really tired now, she couldn't believe she'd told her Mum everything, she hadn't planned to it had all just came out

"I love you" Gaby mumbled

"I love you too, so so much and I just wish you'd felt you could have told me what was going on sooner"

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	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

A couple of weeks had passed and slowly Gaby seemed to be getting better, Rachel had managed to set her up with some counselling sessions and had got back in touch with the clinic Gaby had spent some time in, they were all offering her some great support and it had done Gaby a lot of good to just have a week or so off school, it allowed her the head space she needed.

It was a Friday morning and there was the usual morning rush getting ready, Rachel had an important meeting that morning so she felt stressed enough anyway and the girls were making it worse by taking ages to get ready

"Girls for the last time come down for breakfast" Rachel shouted

She'd only managed to get Ivy sat down so far but she was in a sulk because she felt poorly but Rachel wasn't letting her have the day off

"Ivy eat your toast"

"I can't, I already told you I feel sick" Ivy said

"Yep just like you told me you were feeling sick last Friday and then Friday before that, I'm not stupid I know you're trying to et out of going swimming and I'm sorry but you're just going to have to get on with it" Rachel said "Girls will you please hurry up" she shouted again

Eventually the three of them came down

"Amy sort that skirt out, Gaby I don't know why you would ever think to wear hoop earrings for school and Hannah do that top button up"

The girls looked at each other, it was obvious that Rachel wasn't in the mood for any messing on this morning, she seemed really stressed

Reluctantly the girls sorted their uniform out

"Gaby pass me those earrings, I'm confiscating them for the day, I'm fed up of telling you to take them out, I've already told you about them at least 5 times this week"

Gaby sighed, but knew better than to try and argue with her Mum when she was in this sort of mood and handed them over

"Honestly uniform at school is getting absolutely ridiculous, I don't know where people think they are when they come to school, I'm not having it anymore, I'm going to call an assembly about it at some point"

"Ooh can't wait" Amy muttered under her breadth, however, she wasn't quite quiet enough

"And you can stop with the cheek right now, I'm not in the mood for it today"

"Really, I'd never have guessed" Amy said sarcastically

"Well you know what, it's easy for you not having any responsibilities but someone around here needs to get stuff done" She snapped "the three of you would have still been in bed if I hadn't have dragged you up this morning"

"Rach just chill out a bit" Amy sighed

After quickly having some breakfast they set off to school

"Rachel I feel really sick" Ivy said

"Ivy I've told you already you can't just try and get out of swimming every week"

"But I'm not lying" Ivy said nearly in tears

"Well it's too much of a coincidence that every single Friday morning we have this conversation, you're going in and that's final"

After a lot of arguing Ivy eventually went into school. Rachel began to feel a bit bad, as it was quite unusual for Ivy to kick up this much of a fuss

She didn't really have much time to dwell on it though as before long they arrived at school.

The three girls went off quickly to go and join their friends and Rachel went up to her office, it was nice to have a couple of moments to herself after the stressful morning she'd had.

Amy had just gone over to join her friends, but she couldn't help but feel they were acting a bit strangely around her

"Guys has something happened" Amy asked

They all looked at each other, no one really wanted to tell her but they knew that they probably should

"Amy let's go for a walk" Jess suggested, Jess was Amy's best friend and she thought it was better coming from her than anyone else

The two of them went off away from the others.

"Amy you know the party last night"

"Yeah the one I wasn't allowed to go to, because Rachel wouldn't let me on a school night" Amy sighed "How was it, are you not hungover"

"We didn't really end up drinking much" Jess said "Look I really don't know how to tell you this, Jamie slept with Laura Todd"

Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing, she could feel her heart pounding against her chest.

"What… no he wouldn't do that" Amy stammered "He wouldn't do that to me"

"Amy I'm so sorry" Jess whispered "We tried to stop him"

"How could he? How could he cheat on me" she cried

"I don't know Amy" Jess said "He's a piece of shit"

"I need to see him" Amy cried "I need to hear it from him"

"Is that a good idea"

"I need to see him" Amy said

She couldn't believe just 5 minutes ago everything had been fine and now it felt like everything was falling it pieces, Jamie had been the first boy she'd ever really loved and she couldn't believe he'd done this to her

"Right then I'll come with you then" Jess said

The two of them went off and started looking for him

It didn't take long for Amy to spot him

"Jamie" she shouted running up to him

Jamie turned round, his face fell when he saw Amy's tear stained face, he realised she must know

"Amy" he said sounding worried

"Jamie, Jess said you slept with laura but you didn't did you, you wouldn't do that to me" she said

Jamie didn't know what to say, he just hung is head

"Jamie, it's not true is it" Amy said again

Jamie just stood there

"Jamie" Amy shouted

"Amy I'm sorry, I was drunk I didn't mean to hurt you"

"How could you?" Amy screamed "You're supposed to love me"

Jamie didn't know what to do he just stood there

"I hate you, I really hate you" she shouted, starting to punch him

"I'm sorry" Jamie repeated not knowing what else to say

"You dick, you absolute dick" Amy sobbed, tears running down her face

Amy ran off, not knowing what else to do, she knew she needed to get out of school, she couldn't face being here today

As she was heading down the corridor out of school, she caught sight of Laura, she couldn't stop herself from going over, she didn't understand how a girl could do that to another girl

"You slept with my boyfriend" Amy said as she approached her

Laura turned round shocked

"Don't even try to deny it you bitch" She cried

"I'm not denying it" Laura said smugly "He loved every minute of it"

She couldn't stop herself from smacking her hard in the face

Laura instantly retaliated and pushed her back, before long it ended up escalating into a full-on fight

They were on the floor hitting and scratching each other

Rachel was walking down the corridor, she needed to get some paperwork off one of her teachers

She was shocked when she turned the corner and saw her niece and Laure on the floor

Instantly she ran over and shouted one of the other teachers nearby for help

She grabbed Amy and pulled her away, but Amy was fighting back

Eventually between Rachel and the other teacher they managed to break it up

"What the hell has gone on here girls?" Rachel shouted

Neither of them said anything, they just glared at each other

"Answer my question" she said "How dare you fight like that In my school"

"Ask her what she did, she started it" Amy said

Laura stared at the floor not wanting to say anything

"I don't give a damn who or what started it, I walked down the corridor and saw you both behaving like a pair of animals" she said "I've got a good mind to suspend the pair of you"

"Do what you like" Amy shouted "It won't change the fact she's a nasty little slut"

Rachel couldn't believe Amy was acting like this, she knew something pretty serious must have happened, but right now she didn't care what it was, she was absolutely furious with Amy.

"Mrs Thomas, take Laura to the medical room" Rachel said

She practically dragged Amy round the corner

"Do you actually realise how much trouble you're in? l" Rachel shouted her voice sounding quite threatening

"You don't know what happened she deserved everything and more" Amy screamed

"That is enough, I don't care what she's done, you do not go around fighting, I'm bloody appalled at you"

"I don't give a shit what you think of me"

"Show me some respect I am your headteacher"

"I don't care who you are, I just want to go home" Amy cried

"And have a nice little day off, I don't think so" Rachel said "Get in the cooler"

"I can't believe you're screaming at me when you don't even know what's happened" Amy sobbed angrily

"Amy I found you punching another girl, I do not allow violence in my school irrespective of whatever happened between you" Rachel said

"I'm not going to the cooler for something that wasn't my fault" Amy shouted

"Fine get up to my office I'm suspending you for 2 days"

"You're so unreasonable I hate you" Amy cried

"Cooler or my office you decide"

Amy couldn't believe how harsh Rachel was being with her. She pushed passed her aggressively and stormed off to the cooler, tears running down her face.

Rachel couldn't believe what had just happened, Amy had seemed totally fine when she'd dropped her off this morning so she couldn't imagine what had caused it.

She knew she needed to speak to both Amy and Laura properly and get statements from some of the other kids, but she also needed to go to her meeting. She'd been feeling really stressed about the meeting all week and this morning hadn't helped at all.

Amy was sat in the cooler, tears were running down her face and she was shaking. She just felt so low, and her auntie hadn't exactly helped things. All she wanted to do was go home, she couldn't face being in school.

Kim was on duty in the cooler and it was just her and Amy in there. She looked up and saw how upset she was so went over

"Amy, do you want to go somewhere, and we can have a chat?"

Amy just nodded

"I'll get someone to cover in here"

Kim went out and found another teacher

"Come on, let's go to my office, grab your stuff"

Amy followed her out and into her office

"Rachel's told me what happened, understandably she's not best pleased"

"She was screaming at me and she didn't even know what happened"

"Well you were fighting, you have to understand why she was angry"

"I know" Amy said "My boyfriend slept with Laura"

"Oh Amy that must have been such a shock for you, no wonder you were angry"

"I really just want to go home" she cried "but Rachel won't let me"

"Look I'm not condoning what you did, but I do understand why you're so upset over it" she said "Look, how about you stay in here for a bit and then when Rachel gets out of her meeting, I'll explain things and I'll say I think it's for the best if you went home"

"Okay … thanks Miss" Amy said appreciatively

"That's alright"

Rachel's meeting went on for about an hour but eventually it was over. Fortunately, it had all gone well so she felt immensely relieved.

She'd just made herself a coffee when there was a knock at her office door

"Come in" she shouted

Kim came in

"Hey Kim, how's your morning been?" Rachel asked "Do you want a quick coffee?"

"it's not been too bad actually. Go on then, if that's okay"

Rachel made her a drink and the two of them sat down

"Was the meeting alright"

"Yeah, it was much better than expected actually" Rachel said "Could have done without the added stress of my niece deciding she wanted to be the next Rocky but ah well"

"Yeah I took her out of the cooler, she's in my office"

"Well I hope you went in hard on her, honestly I couldn't believe it this morning"

"She was in a bad way Rach" Kim said "Jamie slept with Laura last night, that's why it all kicked off"

"Oh no, she'll be devastated over that" Rachel sighed "No wonder she's so upset, god I could kill him, she really loves him you know"

"Well that's why she attacked Laura" she explained

"Well it doesn't excuse her fighting but it does explain a lot" Rachel said

"She's so upset bless her, why don't you take her off home I think it's what she needs"

"Do you think that's for the best?" Rachel asked

"Yeah for sure"

"You're probably right, I was just so annoyed with her this morning … well I still am but I do understand why she did it"

"You know how hard it is when you're a teenager"

"I'll go and see her now, did you say she was in your office?"

"Yeah"

"Right I'll go down"

Rachel quickly finished off her coffee before walking over to Kim's office

She saw Amy in there and couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she walked in and went over

"Miss Campbell told me I could come in here before you say anything"

"I wasn't going to say anything" Rachel said sitting down "Look Amy Miss Campbell told me what happened I'm really sorry, I know how you must be feeling"

"No you don't, all you're bothered about is the fact I've made you look bad for breaking school rules"

"That's not true and you know it" Rachel sighed "I didn't know what had happened"

"You said you didn't give a damn what had happened, and don't even try to deny it because those were your exact words"

"I'm not denying it Amy, look you must get why I was so angry at you, violence can't be tolerated in school, it just can't"

"So you've said Miss" Amy said sarcastically emphasising the Miss

"Alright loose the attitude I mean it, I know you're upset and you have every right to be but I'm still your head and you're in school"

"Oh I don't care, why does this place always have to come first? You didn't care that I was upset this morning you were just screaming at me"

"Amy you're being unreasonable, what was I supposed to do let you rip her hair out. If you were just a year or so older or this didn't happen in school, you'd have ended up with a criminal record in a heartbeat, so I'm sorry but one way or another you have to learn to find other ways to deal with your emotions no matter what the situation"

Amy was crying again now

Rachel tried to put an arm around her, but Amy pushed her away

"I just want to go home"

"Okay, I'll drive you back" Rachel sighed "I'll have to get back here though"

"That's fine, I want to be on my own anyway"

Rachel and Amy walked over to the car

The whole way back Rachel tried talking to Amy, but all she was getting was a wall of silence so in the end she gave up.

When they pulled up on the drive Rachel's phone started ringing

When she answered she realised it was Ivy's school, apparently Ivy really wasn't very well and needed to be picked up. Rachel agreed, feeling bad for not believing her this morning.

"Ivy's not very well, I need to pick her up, she'll have to go to Grandma's"

"You going to scream at her for having a day off"

"Amy pack it in, I'm not the enemy here. I understand you're angry but there's no need to take it all out on me"

Amy got out of the car slamming the door forcefully behind her.

Rachel unlocked the house and Amy ran straight up to her room. Rachel felt like crying as she went upstairs, normally her and Amy got on great and Amy would talk to her about most things, so it felt horrible to fall out like this.

She knew they both just needed a bit of space though, so Rachel decided to leave her to it and go and pick Ivy up, she couldn't believe what a stressful day this had turned out to be.

Rachel quickly rang her Mum to check she was okay to have Ivy, luckily she agreed

When Rachel arrived at Ivy's school, she went straight over to reception. Instantly she spotted Ivy and felt awful for not believing her this morning, she looked terrible.

Someone buzzed Rachel in so she went through to reception

"Hey sweetie how you feeling"

"My tummy hurts and so does my head"

"Alright darling, I'll sign you out and then we'll go to Grandma's"

"Can't I go to work with you"

Normally Rachel would just take her to her office but she had a meeting with a parent later around some quite sensitive issues so she really couldn't have Ivy with her

"I'm sorry ivy, I've got some really important work today so you'll have to go to Grandma's"

"Okay" Ivy said sounding upset

"I'm sorry, if it was any other day you know I'd take you into school" Rachel said "Besides, you'll have a better time at Grandma's than you will at my work"

Rachel then signed her out and the two of them went over to the car

"Do you feel sick?"

"Not really, my tummy just really hurts"

"Okay, well Grandma will have some calpol"

It took them about 5 minutes to arrive at Joan's house.

They got out and Rachel knocked on the door, Joan answered straight away

"Hey Mum" Rachel said smiling "Thanks so much for having Ivy"

"It's alright, I'd have picked her up from school"

"Oh don't be daft, I'm putting you to enough trouble as it is"

"It' no trouble at all, are you feeling rotten love?" she asked Ivy

Ivy just nodded her head

"come on In then, we'll soon have you settled, you left some of your pyjamas here last time you slept over so you can go and get into them"

Ivy ran off upstairs to go and get changed

"Do you want a coffee?"

Rachel knew she shouldn't stop but she did fancy a coffee

"Yeah just a quick one, thanks"

She went in and sat down on the sofa, a couple of minutes later Joan came through with coffee and biscuits

"Thanks Mum" Rachel said smiling

"You look knackered"

"Oh it's just been one of those days you know"

"It's not even lunch time yet"

"Tell me about it" Rachel sighed "Amy had a fight at school this morning"

"Oh no, that doesn't sound like her"

"Well apparently it was because Jamie had cheated on her"

"Oh god, the two of them always seem so smitten with each other"

"I know, Amy's heartbroken" Rachel said "And she's fallen out with me big style"

"Why?"

"Because I went absolutely mad with her this morning and now she thinks I was being unreasonable"

"Well you had to break up the fight, she'll be fine with you in a few hours, you know what teenage girls are like, especially when there's boys involved"

Rachel knew her Mum had a point

A minute or so later Ivy came down and sat on Rachel's knee

"How are you feeling?" Rachel asked "You do feel quite hot"

"My tummy hurts and I feel shivery"

"Oh dear, it sounds like you might be coming down with something" she said "You'll have to have a nice relaxing afternoon"

Ivy started to cry as she was feeling really sorry for herself now

"Oh love, it's alright, you're going to start feeling better soon I promise" Rachel soothed "Have you tried going to the loo?"

"Yeah but I can't go" Ivy cried

"Oh dear, well sometimes that can make you feel rotten too" Rachel said "Drink lots of water and try and have some fruit"

"I'll look after you, don't worry Ivy" Joan said, as she knew Rachel would be worried about leaving her when she was this upset

Rachel stayed for a bit longer and then decided she really needed to get back to work

She really hoped the rest of the day would pass smoothly without any major incidents

However, just as she turned the corner, she saw Hannah and a couple of her friends out of school, they'd obviously been to the shop at lunch which they weren't supposed to do. Rachel couldn't believe the way her day was going, it just seemed to be one thing after another

Half of her just wanted to turn a blind eye to it, as she knew that the kids going out at lunch to the shop was a very common occurrence and it was really hard to monitor, and she really didn't have the energy to deal with it. In the end though she realised she'd have to pull up.

Hannah was shocked when she saw her aunties car pull up beside her and her friends

"Going somewhere nice girls?" Rachel said sarcastically

The three of them looked at each other, they couldn't believe they'd been caught out

"Get in the car, we're going back to school"

The three of them got in the back, none of them wanting to sit in the front next to Rachel

Rachel didn't say anything the whole way back . When they pulled up she turned to face them

"You can spend the rest of your lunch in detention, now off you go"

The girls looked a bit confused, they were expecting a proper lecture and they knew normally people going out at lunch would get a weeks break detention so they didn't understand why they'd got away so lightly, especially considering Rachel had found them. They didn't complain though, and quickly got out the car and ran off before she changed her mind.

Rachel couldn't help but smile to herself slightly as they went off, the truth was she just couldn't be bothered arguing with anyone else today, which was why she hadn't made a big deal out of it

Luckily the rest of the afternoon passed without any major incidents and before long the bell rang for the end of school.

Gaby and Hannah came up to Rachel's office straight away

"Hey girls, I don't know about you, but I am desperate to get home" Rachel sighed

"Oh yeah is Amy okay?" Gaby asked, the whole school had been talking about the fight she'd had this morning

"I don't know Gab, I called her earlier and apparently she's going to Jess's as soon as Jess gets back, which I'm not entirely happy about but maybe she needs it to cheer her up"

"Can we get takeaway tonight?" Hannah asked

"You know what I think that might be a good idea, not that you deserve it after earlier" Rachel said, however, she didn't sound too serious

"What happened earlier?" Gaby asked

"I found Hannah and her friends near the shop, apparently she didn't fancy staying in school for lunch"

"you were so chilled about it though Rachel" Hannah said "We thought we were going to get into loads of trouble"

"I'm not always a monster you know" Rachel sighed "Come on lets get home"

The three of them set off walking back to the car

They went to pick Ivy up and then went back home

Rachel was so glad to finally be able to relax after such an awful day, she instantly went upstairs and got into something comfortable and took all her makeup off

Amy had already gone to Jess's, she just needed to get out the house and be with her friends

She was sat in Jess's room with her

"Honestly I just feel so used by him" Amy said

"Amy he's always been punching with you, you're stunning and funny and clever, basically 20x better than him" Jess said

Amy smiled, Jess always had been an amazing friend

"Look, Tom's having a party tonight, why don't we go, we can do our makeup really nice and get pissed and flirt with fit boys"

Amy laughed, it did sound like a good idea though

"Sure, let's do it" she said "I'll have to ask my auntie though, I was horrible to her earlier so I don't know if she'll let me"

Amy got her phone out and rang Rachel, who answered within seconds

"Amy are you okay?" Rachel asked sounding worried

"Yeah, sorry for shouting earlier, I'm at jess's"

"Alright love, we'll talk later, what time are you coming back, we're getting Chinese if you fancy?"

"Well I was going to ask if maybe I could go to a party with Jess"

Rachel paused for a second or so "I don't know love, are you sure that's a good idea"

"I'll be sensible I promise" Amy said

"Where's it at and who's party is it?" Rachel asked

"Tom Foster's in my year, he lives on Danes street"

"Okay, well I still think it'd be better if you just came home but if you really want to go then I won't stop you" Rachel sighed, "But please be careful and call me If you need me okay"

"I will I promise"

"Right, I love you lots" Rachel said

"Love you too"

Amy then put the phone down

"Well that was easy than expected, she's feeling sorry for me, so she agreed"

"Fabulous, it's gonna be a good night and it'll take your mind off Jamie"

"Screw him, I'm sure I'll find somebody else" Amy said

She was still feeling incredibly low about everything but was in the mood to get blind drunk and forget all about it.

A couple of hours passed and the girls had just started getting ready

"Can I borrow your red dress, the bodycon one?" Amy asked

"Yeah sure, I'll try and find it" Jess said

Eventually she managed to find it so Amy got changed, it really suited her and showed off her dark hair and tanned skin

"I might bleach my hair" Amy said

"Do it, you have to do something dramatic with it after a break up, it's like the rules"

"Maybe I'd be better going to the hairdressers though, knowing my luck it'll all fall out if I try anything with it"

The two girls chatted for a bit as they got ready, and then started drinking

Amy hadn't eaten anything all day, so it didn't take much for her to start feeling tipsy. It felt good though, it was helping her forget everything that had happened today

By the time they were ready to go to the party, both girls were pretty drunk, they'd managed to get through 2 bottles of wine between them already.

Tom lived just round the corner so they could walk to his, they were both acting quite silly and stumbling around a bit.

Before long they arrived at Tom's, they met up with a few of their friends and got some vodka shots to do all together.

It was fun at first, the music was really good and everyone was having a laugh

However, after an hour or so had passed, Amy began to feel really drunk and it was making her emotional, but she carried on drinking more

Jess spotted her looking upset so she took her outside

"Want a smoke?" Jess asked, the two of them would never normally smoke, however, they'd normally take a packet with them to have when they went to parties

"Sure" Amy said, taking a cigarette and lighting it up

After a minute or so Amy started crying

"It's so shit Jess, why would he do this to me?" Amy sobbed "He's such a dick I hate him"

Jess brought Amy into a hug

"He's a piece of shit that's why, look you're stunning and there's a whole load of sit guys in there, so don't you dare waste another second crying over him, dry your tears and get in there"

Amy couldn't help but laugh, she stood outside with Jess for a bit before going back in

She spotted a guy who she thought was really attractive

Instantly he spotted her looking at him so went over

"Hey I'm Matt, how are you" he asked

"I'm good, I tell you what I could do with another drink though" she said smiling at him

Matt went over and made her quite a strong vodka coke

They chatted for a while, Amy was by now extremely drunk and before long they started making out

Even though she could barely stand, Matt kept poring her more drinks and before long she was in a really bad why

"Why don't we get out of here" Matt suggested

Amy agreed so the two of them slipped out, she sent a text to jess to explain she was heading back home

"Why don't you come back to mine with me" Amy said laughing, she wasn't even thinking about what she was saying

"Won't your parents mind"

"I live with my auntie, if we're quiet coming in then she won't hear us and we can just have more fun together" Amy slurred, she was so drunk she could barely get her sentence out

"Right, if you say so" he said

It took them ages to get back to Rachel's house as Amy didn't have a clue where she was going, she was that drunk

"Right let's go up to my room and then we can just have sex, my boyfriend cheated on me but it's okay because you're much better looking" Amy said giggling to herself

She searched in her bag for her keys and eventually found them so unlocked the door

"Shh we have to be really quiet" she said loudly as she slammed the door

It was only when they got inside Matt realised just what a state she was in, she was falling about all over the place and was in a bit of a state

Rachel woke up to the sound of the door slam, she instantly put her dressing gown on, assuming Amy was back home

She headed downstairs and got the shock of her laugh when she saw there was a boy down there with Amy

"Amy what the hell are you doing" Rachel said

Matt felt really uncomfortable now

"Oh hi Rach, this is .. what's your name, I think it's mark but it might not be, but we're going to go upstairs and have sex" Amy said

Rachel couldn't believe how drunk Amy was and that she'd brought a boy back with her

"Come on Mark let's go .."

"Amy how have you managed to get yourself into this state" Rachel turned to face Matt "I don't know who you are, but if I find out you've taken advantage of her in any way…"

"I haven't I swear, I didn't realise how drunk she was until we started walking home, I'm not going to sleep with a girl when they're in this state Jesus"

"Good because if you did it would be classed as rape and I hope you realise that"

"of course I realise it, I'm not some sicko, I just wanted to make sure she got home safe"

Rachel realised she'd been a bit harsh on him "I'm sorry, I was just worried when I saw you"

"It's okay, I'm going to go home now"

"Can I call you a taxi?"

"No I only live round the corner"

He walked out, leaving Rachel and Amy alone

"Where are you going?" Amy screamed "Am I not even worth a shag now?"

Rachel turned her attention to Amy

"Have you got any idea what you're saying, how dare you bring some random boy back to this house to sleep with" Rachel shouted

"Shut up I just wanted to have fun" Amy said before bursting into tears

"What the bloody hell were you thinking, you were about to have sex with a complete stranger in my house!" Rachel said "In what planet do you think that is acceptable"

"I don't fucking care, Jamie doesn't love me anymore he slept with a slag" Amy cried "I just wanted someone to love me for tonight"

Rachel suddenly felt sorry for her, she could see what a bad way she was in over Jamie

"Amy, come on, you're smart enough to know this isn't going to make things better, getting drunk and sleeping with someone else might seem like the answer now, but it's just going to make you feel like crap tomorrow "Rachel said, her voice gentler now

Amy was sobbing hysterically now, she was sat on the ground with her head between her hands

Rachel was going to go over and sit down next to her but suddenly Amy was sick all over self

"Oh dear" Rachel sighed, before going over to her

"I don't feel well, I'm really drunk"

"Well yeah I kind of gathered" Rachel said

Amy lent forward and was sick again, Rachel rubbed her back and held her hair for her

"Come on, get it all out of your system, you'll feel better for it, good job we took the carpets out of here a few years ago isn't it"

"I thought Jamie loved me but he didn't" Amy sobbed

"It's alright darling, things seem bad now but I promise they'll seem better soon" Rachel soothed

"I was going to sleep with that boy, just to get back at him" Amy slurred

"I know, but you didn't and that's what matters isn't it huh" Rachel said "You've just got yourself into a bit of a state"

Amy was shivering now, her face was sweaty and mascara was running down her face

"Am I in trouble?" Amy said suddenly sounding scared

"No, I do understand what's happened, believe it or not I'm not totally cold hearted, I hope you realise you're getting a big lecture tomorrow though, you could have put yourself in real danger"

"I need to be sick again"

Amy started being sick again, she couldn't believe this was how her night had ended up

"Come on love, let's go and get you sorted out" Rachel said

She helped Amy up and got her upstairs to the bathroom, she started running a shower and got her in, before giving her hair a good wash

The shower made Amy sober up a bit, when she got out she started sobbing again. Rachel quickly wrapped a towel round her

"Shh it's alright, it's all going to be fine. Let's get you into some nice warm pyjamas and into bed"

"Can I come in with you"

"Okay, come on, it's okay"

She helped her into pyjamas and dried her hair off a bit

"Right will you be okay for literally 2 minutes, I need to clean the floor up downstairs and I'll get you some water"

"yeah"

Amy got into Rachel's bed, everything seemed like such a blur, she was still feeling really drunk but had sobered up a little. Tears were still running down her face.

Rachel came back up a couple of minutes later

She saw Amy crying so instantly went over to her, she got into bed and pulled her into her chest, Amy was sobbing properly now

"Darling I promise it won't feel like this forever"

"You must be angry with me though"

"I'm not angry, I'm just worried that's all" Rachel said "Do you think you're the only one who's ever got into a state like this when they're angry and upset? I remember at uni some guy I was seeing cheated on me and I was absolutely furious and heartbroken, so I went out and ended up so bad I was admitted to hospital, let me tell you it was about the worst night of my life"

"Really"

"Yeah, not that I'm condoning it of course" Rachel said

"I was sick everywhere"

"I know, I've spent the last 15 minutes cleaning you up"

"I'm sorry that's disgusting"

"I dare say I'll cope" Rachel said smiling slightly

"I love you loads, even though I was mean" Amy said "Are you going to shout at me tomorrow"

"No, but we do need to talk about this properly Amy, when you're fully sober"

"Okay, I'm going to go to sleep now"

"Night I love you"

"Love you too"

Please review xxxx


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

It was a Friday morning, and everyone was sat round at the table for breakfast. For once they'd actually all got downstairs reasonably early, so the morning hadn't been as stressful as usual. Rachel was out of school all day as she had to go to an important meeting at one of the other local secondary schools, so she needed to get the girls off to school in good time.

"Can you make me a coffee Rach" Amy asked the second Rachel stood up to get herself some toast

"oh and me" Gaby said

"It must be nice having your own personal slave" She sighed "When does anyone ever make me a coffee"

"I made you one last night" Amy pointed out

"Yeah only because you were trying to sweet talk me into letting you go to that party next week" Rachel said

"Well it worked"

"No it didn't, I said I'd think about it and it'll depend on your behaviour this week"

"Which basically means yes"

"I wouldn't be so sure young lady, we know what happened last time you went out" Rachel said raising her eyebrows slightly

This was enough to stop Amy from saying anything else, she still felt mortified about what had happened last week and hated to even think about it.

"Hannah please will you pass me the butter" Amy asked, quickly wanting to direct the conversation away from the other week

Hannah pretended she didn't hear her at first and when Amy asked again, she moodily threw it over to her

"Woah what was that about? There was no need to throw it at me"

"Well you should have got it yourself then" Hannah replied sulkily

Hannah had been in a bad mood for most of the week, Rachel had no idea why, but it was beginning to do her head in

"There's no need to speak like that" Amy said

"Oh, just shut up, just because you're too lazy to get it yourself" Hannah shouted

"It was right next to you of course I'm going to ask you to get it"

"Just stop going on at me" Hannah said

"Well don't act so unreasonably then, you've been stroppy all week"

"Shut up, I'm sick of everyone going on at me all the time" Hannah screamed

Rachel couldn't believe how badly Hannah was overreacting to such a small thing, but it wasn't the first time this week she'd flown off the handle about something really small

"Hannah apologise to Amy, she only asked you to pass the butter which was right next you" Rachel said

"You can shut up to, why do you always have to take her side with everything, it's not fair, no one ever sticks up for me" Hannah said before bursting into tears

Rachel sighed, she really didn't understand why Hannah was so emotional lately, but she realised getting angry was only going to make the situation worse

"Let's go outside, I want a quick chat with you" Rachel said calmly

Hannah reluctantly got up and walked out, slamming the door behind her

"I can't cope with that level of hormonal first thing on a Friday morning" Gaby said

Rachel didn't say anything, but she could see Gaby's point, there did seem to be something up with Hannah at the moment

"Finish your breakfast off" Rachel said

She then went outside and closed the door behind her so she could talk privately with Hannah

Hannah was on the stairs crying

"That was really out of order in there"

"It's not fair, you shouldn't have got involved it was between me and Amy and you had no right to take her side" Hannah sobbed angrily

"You need to calm yourself down" Rachel said "I don't know what's upset you so much, but you can't speak to people the way you just have, it's unacceptable is that clear?"

"But that's unreasonable when no one cares how they speak to me" Hannah yelled

"Hannah I'm not going to have a conversation with you until you're prepared to speak reasonably. I understand you might be feeling upset, but that doesn't entitle you to behave how you like"

Hannah took some deep breadths and eventually managed to feel a bit calmer, she hated feeling like this but no one understood what was going on and she felt so stressed and unsettled by everything but she couldn't tell anyone about it.

"Right, now do you want to tell me what you're so upset and angry about?"

"I'm okay now" Hannah mumbled "I don't know why I got so angry, I'm really sorry"

Hannah seemed to be flitting from one extreme to the other this week, she'd have an awful strop but then be all apologetic afterwards

Rachel sat down next to her

"But it's not just this morning, all week you seem to be having really bad mood swings. I understand that when you're the age you are your emotions are all over the place, but it's just not like you Hannah"

"I know I'm sorry"

"So what's happened huh? Whatever it is we can talk about it"

"I don't know"

"Has something happened at school or something?"

"No"

"Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me about?"

"I'm sure"

Rachel didn't believe her, but there was no point pushing it

"Okay, well go and sort yourself out and then I want you to go and apologise to Amy, is that understood"

Hannah just nodded her head

Rachel then left her so Hannah went upstairs to her bedroom

She instantly began to cry again. All this had started a week ago, she'd just recently got a Facebook account and her Dad had started messaging her. Hannah felt so strange about getting in contact with him again, she hadn't seen him since she was really little and her memories of him hadn't been very nice, but she had started messaging him back and now he was asking to meet up tomorrow. Hannah didn't know how she felt about it all, she was so nervous to see him, but felt as if she should. She wished she could tell someone about it, but he'd made her promise not to say anything to anyone at home.

Hannah lost track of time and got a shock when she heard a knock at her door

"Hannah, we really need to get going for school now" Rachel said "Are you okay"

Hannah nodded before grabbing her school stuff and following her out, they were about to go down stairs when Rachel stopped her

"Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about love?"

"I'm okay I promise"

"Right, and you're going to be alright at school today? You feel calm enough to go into lessons and behave sensibly?"

"Yeah I'll be fine"

"Okay, let's go downstairs then"

The two of them went downstairs together and Rachel got everyone in the car

She dropped Ivy off and then the other three girls

It felt strange driving past without going in, she never really liked not being in school for the day but she really couldn't miss the meeting today

After Rachel had dropped them off she drove straight over to the other school

Hannah felt really strange, all she could think about was seeing her Dad tomorrow, she couldn't remember what he was like really, it had always upset her that she'd never had a Dad but now he wanted to meet up she didn't know how she felt about it, especially seeing as she'd never told anyone

She could barely concentrate at all during her lessons, she didn't want to be in school at all

It was the last lesson before home time and Hannah was just staring out the window

"Hannah where's your homework" Miss Jones asked

Hannah jumped, she hadn't realised she'd been standing over her

She just shrugged her shoulders in response

"Well have you done it or not?"

"No" Hannah said

"That's not like you, why not?"

"I just haven't alright, stop going on at me" Hannah snapped, she hadn't mean to speak like that, it had just come out

"I think you're forgetting where you are young lady" she replied coolly "pass me your planner I'm writing a note in it, and you can do a detention after school"

"I've lost my planner" Hannah lied, she really didn't want her auntie finding out about this

"Fine I'll print you a note off, but it better be signed for Monday"

Hannah sighed but knew there was no point in arguing, it wasn't going to get her anywhere

She stayed quiet for the rest of the lesson

As soon as the bell rang she made a bee line for the door, but Miss Jones stopped her

"Hannah a word please"

Hannah sighed but waited back

"Is everything okay with you, you've been quiet in all your Maths lessons this week"

"Sorry"

"I'm not having a go, I'm just asking if you're okay"

"Yeah I'm fine, sorry about earlier"

"It's just not like you Hannah" She said "Are you sure there's nothing up"

"I'm sure"

"Okay, well make sure you give your auntie your note and you can do a 10 minute detention"

"But Rachel will be waiting"

"She's called a staff meeting after school, so she'll be coming in anyway"

"Oh okay"

Hannah really didn't want Rachel finding out about this and prayed that Miss Jones wouldn't say anything to her

She went off to the cooler and stayed there for 10 minutes before going up to Rachel's office

She found Gaby up there, Amy was going to a friends house so had already gone

"Have you seen my Mum anywhere?" Gaby asked

"No, I thought she'd be up here"

"So did I but she still hasn't came up"

"Miss Jones said she'd called a staff meeting"

"Oh that's a bit unfair of her on a Friday afternoon, all the teachers are probably desperate to get off"

"Hopefully she won't be long" Hannah said, before sitting down on one of the chairs

Gaby sat down next to her

"Gaby I got into trouble in Maths" Hannah said, she didn't really know why she was telling Gaby about it but she was really worried and wanted to tell someone

"What for?"

"Not handing homework in and being rude"

"I'm sure there's been worse things happen here" Gaby said laughing

"I have to give Rachel a note to sign"

"Oh now I get why you're worried" Gaby said smiling slightly "Look I've had to give her loads of notes over the years, she'll get a bit angry but just let her have her rant that she seems to think is compulsory about how important school is and how she's disappointed in your behaviour, just nod your head to it all and say you're really sorry, she'll be over it in 5 minutes trust me"

Hannah laughed a bit at this, it did make her feel slightly better

Rachel seemed to be taking forever, she'd been at least half an hour so the two of them were getting really bored

"Won't she be late for Ivy at this rate, her after school club only goes on till 4.45" Gaby said

"Ivy's sleeping at Grandma's tonight, she's picking her up from school remember"

"Oh yeah, they're going to the cinema aren't they?" Gaby said "I'm so bored, do you want to walk to the shop with me, it'll only take 10 minutes"

"Sure"

The girls went out to the shop to get some drinks and crisps

They couldn't believe Rachel still wasn't back by the time they got back to her office

"What the hell is she doing?" Gaby sighed "We could have walked back in this time"

"I hope Mrs Jones isn't talking to her" Hannah said

"I think you'd have had to have murdered someone for her to need to talk to her for this long"

About 10 minutes later Rachel walked in looking stressed

"Mum you've been ages, where were you"

"Sorry, sorry I've been speaking to the staff for the past hour… it's all so stressful we've been trying to get everything organised"

"What for?" Gaby asked

Rachel sighed "I had a lovely call at about 2 this afternoon, we've got Ofsted coming in on Monday"

"Oh no really" Gaby said "You must all be so stressed"

"Yep you can say that again" Rachel said "Listen I'm going to be here till well gone 9 so I'll drive you two home and Gaby will you be okay in charge? Ivy's not there so it's not like you'll have to look after her, I'll give you some money and you girls can get a takeaway or something"

"Yeah that's fine, how come you've got to stay that long?"

Rachel looked at her as if she was mad "You've got no idea what a big deal this is Gaby, if we fail I'm sacked on the spot you do realise that?"

"Alright I get it, you'll be fine though" Gaby said

"Sorry, everything's just so stressful at the moment. Look I'm going to be at school most of the weekend. Ivy can stay at Grandma's for the weekend but you can too if you want. I'll have to apologise in advance because I'm going to be an absolute nightmare to live with this weekend"

"No it's fine I've got loads of homework so I'll just stop home" Gaby said

"I'm going round to Isabelle's house all day tomorrow so I'll be fine too" Hannah said, she was kind of glad Rachel wouldn't be around because she'd ask her loads of questions

"Okay sounds like you're sorted then, I'm sorry about this girls."

"It's okay t's not your fault" Gaby said

"Right let's go home, I want to get changed anyway" Rachel said

"Won't you need tea"

"All the staff are ordering pizza later, so I'll probably have some of that"

"Is everyone staying till late"

"Yep everyone's freaking out over it, we weren't due one for about another year so it's such a shock"

The three of them walked over to the car and Rachel drove back home

As soon as they got in, Rachel got changed and then went downstairs to make a coffee, she definitely needed one before going back to school

Hannah came into the kitchen

"Rachel will you sign a letter for me" Hannah asked, before passing it to her

Rachel rolled her eyes as she read it

"for gods sake Hannah, you know better than to act up in lessons, I don't know what your problem is this week but I'm warning you it needs sorting out now, have you got any idea how hard the teachers in school work, and they don't deserve to be treated like this. And you know fine well you need to hand homework in on time" Rachel snapped

"Sorry"

"You know what I don't even want to hear it, you need to seriously sort your attitude out" she said

It came out harsher than she intended, she was just so stressed anyway so she really didn't need anything else adding to it

She sighed and quickly signed the letter before giving it back to Hannah

Hannah ran upstairs before Rachel had chance to say anything else

As she was driving back to school, Rachel started to feel really bad about snapping at Hannah like she had, it wasn't as if she'd done anything that serious after all

Hannah spent most of the evening up in her room. Her Dad was messaging her about tomorrow and she was beginning to feel sick about it all, she really didn't know what to do. They'd arranged to meet at the local park, it wasn't far at all and apparently, he was living close by.

She just felt totally unsettled by it all

Rachel had spent all evening trying to get things sorted, when it turned 10, she realised she really should get home, all the staff had left about an hour ago and she needed to check up on the girls, she was absolutely shattered too

She packed some stuff to take home with her

When Rachel got in she found Gaby in the kitchen, she'd text her to let her know she was on her way back

"Hey Mum, I made you coffee and a sandwich"

"Oh thanks darling, I'm absolutely starving"

"You look knackered"

"I feel bloody knackered, god it's going to be a bad few days, I'll be so glad when it's over"

"It'll be fine, you do a great job at school"

Rachel smiled "Thanks love, nobody likes inspections that's all"

"What time will you go to school tomorrow"

"Probably about 9 ish then come back about 5 for some tea then I'll try and do some more work back home"

"Sounds grim" Gaby said

"I'm sure we'll get through it" Rachel said "How's Hannah, is she asleep?"

"She's been in her room all night so I don't really know"

"I had such a go at her earlier, I feel awful now"

"What's up with her? She's been so weird all week"

"I don't know she's not told me anything"

Gaby and Rachel stayed up talking for a bit longer and then Gaby decided to go up to bed

Rachel decided to finish off checking some assessment data in her study, she really wanted to go to bed but if she did this now it would be one less thing to do in the morning. She put her glasses on and grabbed her notebook before going up

Hannah had been trying to get to sleep for ages but she couldn't settle

In the end she decided to get out of bed to see Rachel

She noticed the light was on in her study so went through

Rachel jumped when she saw her

"Hannah you gave me a fright, I thought you were asleep" Rachel said

Hannah suddenly burst into tears, she didn't understand why but everything had just got too much

She ran over to Rachel and wrapped her arms around her

"Hey sweetie, what's the matter?" Rachel asked her voice full of worry

Hannah didn't know what to say, she just continued to cry into her

"Come on, I'm done in here, let's go through to my room we can have a chat"

Hannah followed Rachel through Rachel sat on her bed and Hannah sat down next to her

"Rachel I don't know why I'm crying, I just got upset about earlier"

"What about me shouting at you? Oh love, I'm sorry, I wasn't angry at you, not really I'm just very stressed at the moment and I took it out on you, I shouldn't have done though"

"It's okay" Hannah mumbled

"Are you sure that's all that's upset you? You do know you can tell me anything, if there is something going on we can talk about it"

"There's nothing I promise"

"Okay, well I'm always here if you do want to talk"

"I know" Hannah said "I'm going to go to bed now"

"Alright well just come back and see me if you can't sleep or whatever"

Rachel still felt really worried about Hannah, she knew there was something going on with her

She quickly got changed into pyjamas and got into bed, within a couple of minutes she fell into a deep sleep, she was so tired after her day

Rachel woke up at about 8, she got dressed and had breakfast before leaving the house as quietly as possible so as not to wake the girls up

Hannah woke up at about 9.30, it felt so strange with Rachel not being there

She felt so scared when she realised she was meant to be meeting her Dad in just a couple of hours, she was terrified about what he would be like

She spent quite a while choosing an outfit and getting ready

Gaby had made her breakfast, but she was too nervous to eat it

"Do you want me to walk you round to Isabelle's house?"

"No it's okay" Hannah said quickly "She only lives round the corner"

"You sure? I honestly don't mind"

"It's fine, thanks though"

After an hour or so had past, Hannah realised she needed to set off

She felt sick as she left the house, she couldn't remember what her Dad looked like or anything, she was so scared to meet him

Hannah walked over to the park and sat down on one of the benches

She looked at the time, he was due to get there any minute, her heart was pounding now

Suddenly Hannah saw a man coming towards her, her smiled and waved so she waved back

Hannah felt so nervous as he walked over to her

"Hannah is that you? God you look so much like your Mum"

Hannah took in his appearance, he was quite tall and muscular and had tattoos all down his arm, he didn't really look like how she'd imagined him to

"Yeah it's me" Hannah said, she felt really awkward, she really didn't know what to say to him

He asked all the general questions about school and stuff, so gradually Hannah became more relaxed and felt at ease

They walked round the park together for a bit before heading out to go to a café for something to eat

"So who you living with now then?"

"My auntie Rachel, we live on Watergate street"

"Oh I've met Rachel loads of times, we used to get on alright, do you like It there? She must have a decent job if she's living there"

"Yeah, she's been so nice to me ever since Mum died, but she's quite strict about school and stuff because she's my headteacher"

"Oh that must be a bit strange for you"

"Yeah it is, but I guess I'm kind of used to it now"

They ended up staying in there for quite some time, Hannah felt really relaxed now and was quite enjoying her Dad's company

He ended up taking her into Manchester to go to the sea life centre

They were having a really nice day together and were enjoying getting to know one another

Tony decided to take Hannah back to his house for some tea before getting her home

When Hannah went into his house she couldn't help but start to feel uncomfortable, it was nice inside and everything but it just felt strange being in someone else's house

But Tony soon made her feel at home and they sat in the living room together and chatted some more

"Dad, how often can I see you now?" Hannah asked

It was obvious that Tony was shocked by this question

"Oh Han, things are complicated now" he sighed

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to see you because I haven't seen you for so long and I thought I should, especially with your Mum dying, and the truth is … well it might be one of the only chances I ever get to again"

Hannah's heart sank, she really thought after her Dad had got in touch he wanted to be a part of her life again, that she meant something to him, especially after they'd had such a nice time

"I don't get it"

"Hannah I've got a new wife now and things are just complicated, and one of the reasons I wanted to see you is … well I haven't got very long to live, I've got a brain tumour"

Hannah suddenly felt all dizzy and sick, she couldn't believe what she was hearing and she didn't understand why it was upsetting her so much, but she felt tears fill her eyes

"I don't get it" Hannah stammered "You've barely seen me and now we finally get to see each other and I could have had a Dad and now … now you're going to die, why would you do this to me?"

Hannah didn't know why she was getting so angry, everything just seemed so unfair

"Han I'm sorry, maybe it was selfish of me for getting in touch and …"

Hannah felt like she couldn't breathe, the room was spinning and she felt like she needed to get out

She ran out the door, she could barely see what she was doing but she kept on running

It wasn't far to go to Rachel's house so she kept going towards it

Suddenly she tripped over and fell hard onto the concrete floor

Instantly pain spread through her, her knees were throbbing and when she stood up she realised they were covered in blood

This panicked her even more and she began to get more hysterical

It seemed to take her ages to get home

Wen she got through the door, Rachel instantly came rushing

"Where the hell have you been, I've been worried sick! You weren't at Isabelle's house I rang her Mum when you weren't in for 6, I was about to call the police" She shouted

However, then she took in Hannah's face, she looked down and gasped when she saw her trousers were covered in blood

Hannah was sobbing, nothing seemed real, she couldn't take anything in, her heart was pounding from the shock of everything

Suddenly she began to feel really dizzy and collapsed to the ground

Hannah came around a couple of minutes later, she could hear her aunties voice but also a mans too

"Hannah, can you hear me" Rachel said sounding really worried

Slowly Hannah opened her eyes, she was shocked when she saw Rachel and also her Dad there too

"Dad what are you doing here?" She asked groggily

"I came straight after you, I saw you fall and ran after you but you were too quick, so I followed you home" he said

Hannah had left the front door open when she came in, Rachel had nearly fainted herself when she saw Tony but he'd quickly explained things, Rachel was absolutely furious with him for not letting her know he was taking Hannah out and he'd obviously upset her in some way, but she hadn't had time to talk to him about any of it yet, she was too worried about Hannah

"Hannah, how are you feeling?" Rachel asked gently

"Okay" she said, sitting up, but she was shaking violently

"You're in shock I think, let me help you into the back room, and we'll get you into some nice warm pyjamas, I'll get blankets and a hot drink, then I'll need to have a look at your legs, you must have taken quite a fall"

"Rachel I'm sorry, I thought you'd say no if I told you and …"

"Shh it's alright love, we'll talk about it all later, let's just get you feeling better first"

Rachel helped her up and got her onto the sofa In the back room

"I'll be 2 minutes" she said

She closed the door behind her and turned her attention to Tony

"Do you know I've got a good mind to report you to the police, how dare you get chatting to her on facebook and get her to spend the day with you, have you got any idea how irresponsible that is, I was worried out of my mind" she hissed, trying to be quiet enough for Hannah not to hear "You don't have anything to do with her for years and then you just rock up into her life, do you have any idea how unsettling that can be for kid"

"I'm sorry, she told me you were okay with it, that you knew all about it"

"And you didn't once think it would be a good idea to contact me directly" Rachel said

"I've messed up, I'm sorry" Tony said, he sounded like he was on the verge of tears himself

"Yes you bloody well have, and what the hell did you do to get her so upset she ran off like that?"

"It's complicated, look please just give me some time to explain everything to you properly"

"As if I owe you any favours"

"Please"

"Well you'll have to wait till I've sorted Hannah out, she's in a right state now thanks to you"

"That's fine I don't mind waiting"

Rachel shook her head before going upstairs to get pyjamas and blankets, she made some hot chocolate and got some stuff to clean Hannah's knee

Hannah was still shaking when she went back in

"Come on sweetheart, let's get you cleaned up a bit, even your hands are all cut you poor thing"

Hannah got changed into pyjamas and wrapped the blanket round her

"now you don't have to explain anything at all not yet, let me just have a look at those knees"

Hannah couldn't believe how much blood there was

"this is going to sting I'm really sorry" Rachel said, as she cleaned them up "God you must have taken some fall"

Hannah winced in pain

"Sorry, I know it hurts" Rachel said "They don't look quite as bad now, I've got some dressing to put over them to"

"Rachel are you mad with me?"

Rachel sighed "I'm not mad Hannah no, but I cant believe you put yourself in that amount of danger, the person you were messaging on facebook could have been anyone"

This upset Hannah even more

"I don't want to make you feel worse, let's talk about it later yeah? When you've calmed down a bit"

"I just wanted to have a Dad like all my friends, I already don't have a Mum anymore, but now it's all gone wrong … he said it's the only time I'll get to see him because he's going to die" Hannah sobbed

Rachel was shocked by this, she felt so sorry for Hannah having all this on her shoulders now

"Oh Hannah" Rachel whispered, she got on the sofa next to her and pulled her into her chest "Shh it's okay, it's all going to be okay I promise" She soothed

Hannah felt as if she was Ivy's age again cuddling into Rachel and crying into her, but she really needed it, she just wanted to feel comforted

"No it's not because he's going to die and I wasn't even nice when he told me, I shouted at him and told him it was unfair" She admitted "I'm horrible"

"No darling, you're not horrible, your just a little kid who's having to deal with way too much"

"Yes I am" Hannah cried "And now Dad doesn't ever want to see me again because I was so mean"

"Hey that's not true, I think he's really worried about you, he came to the house looking for you, and he's still here now."

"Can I see him?"

Rachel didn't know what to do, she wasn't sure if it was for the best or not, but realised it would be wrong to stop her

"Okay, let me have 2 minutes outside with him then he can come in and see you"

Rachel stepped outside again and closed the door

Tony was stood in the kitchen looking really lost

"How is she?" he asked straight away

"She's still very fragile" Rachel sighed "Look Hannah's told me what you told her, I'm really sorry, I can't imagine what you're going through"

"I've got a brain tumour, they can't cure it"

"God, I don't know what to say, I'm just truly sorry, I can't imagine anything more devastating"

"I shouldn't have told Hannah, it was so selfish …now she's got to deal with it and she's already lost her Mum. I shouldn't have told her and the when I die she wouldn't have had to know, I just really wanted to see her. I've wanted to for years, but I didn't know how she'd react to me getting back in touch but I couldn't die without seeing her one less time"

"I understand that" Rachel said "It's a lot to put on a kid of her age especially when you haven't been in her life, but I know Hannah's always wondered about you and maybe seeing you has given her some sort of closure"

"I feel awful"

"Look why don't I make you a drink, then we can have a chat, the three of us"

"If you're sure"

Rachel made him a coffee and the two of them went through to see Hannah

Hannah sat up when she saw her Dad come in

Rachel sat down next to her and Tony sat on one of the chairs

"Dad, I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout"

"Don't be sorry, it was all my fault I shouldn't have told you like that, or get you to meet up today without checking with your auntie" he said

"Are you really going to die"

Tony didn't know what to say so just nodded his head

"I'm sorry" he said

Hannah started crying again

"But I want to see you again, if you'd like that"

"Yeah I really would" Hannah said "You're not going to die soon are you?"

"I don't know, it could be weeks or months" he said

Hannah was still struggling to take it in

Rachel put an arm around her

The three of them talked together for a bit longer but then Tony decided to leave, Rachel gave him her number so if he did want to see Hannah again they could arrange it

When he'd gone Rachel turned her attention back to Hannah

"How are you feeling?" she asked gently

"a bit upset" she mumbled

"I know you are love, I know, it's such a shock for you" Rachel said

"I feel really tired, can I go to bed?"

"It's only 8.30 but if you want of course"

Hannah decided to go up so Rachel tucked her in

"You'll come and get me if you need me yeah?"

Hannah nodded

Rachel then left her to it for a bit

She needed to do some work but she couldn't concentrate at all. She was trying to take n everything that had happened

In the end she made a coffee and did some work for a couple hours before deciding to go to bed

Once she'd changed into pyjamas she went to check on Hannah

The light was off but she could hear her crying, so she got into bed next to her

"Rachel I don't want anyone else to die, I don't think I can handle it" Hannah sobbed

Rachel didn't know what to say to this, she just wrapped her arms round Hannah tightly

"I know love" Rachel said

Rachel ended up staying in Hannah's bed all night as she felt very unsettled, Rachel had a feeling the next few weeks were going to be really challenging.

Please review and suggest ideas xxxxx


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

A couple of weeks had passed, and Hannah had obviously been very unsettled and upset around the house, she just wasn't coming to terms at all with everything that had happened with her Dad and finding out he didn't have very long to live. Rachel had tried her best to help her but there really wasn't anything she could say or do to make things easier.

It was a Friday morning and the girls were just getting ready for school, it was only a couple of weeks before half term which Rachel was really glad about, she was desperate for a rest after a stressful term, and they'd booked a holiday to Majorca with Rachel's parents which they were all really looking forward to.

She decided to go and see if the girls were ready to go.

Amy and Gaby had just about finished getting ready, so she went to knock on Hannah's bedroom door

When she went in she found her in her school uniform curled up on her bed

"Love are you nearly ready to go?" She asked

"I don't feel that well"

Rachel sighed, Hannah had been trying to get out of school most days

"I know you don't want to go to school, but I'm sorry Hannah you can't miss anymore, I let you have a couple of days off last week because I thought you needed it but I really think you need to get back"

"My stomach hurts"

"Well you can take some paracetamol if you need to" Rachel said "I know things aren't very nice at the moment, and I understand that completely, but I really don't think staying off school is doing you much good"

Hannah knew there was no point in arguing and she reluctantly got up and followed Rachel out

A little while later they all got in the car and drove off to school, Rachel dropped Ivy off before driving to work

"Mum is it okay if I go to a party tonight?" Gaby asked

"What sort of party?" Rachel asked sounding sceptical

"Just a house party, Sophie's having a few people round"

"I don't know Gaby, you're only 13, it's a bit young to be going to parties"

"Mum that's so unfair everyone else is allowed to go"

"Will there be alcohol there?"

"obviously not" Gaby said, although she knew perfectly well that some of the boys from year 10 were coming and would definitely be bringing alcohol for everyone although she knew if she mentioned this there was no way Rachel would let her go

"I hope you're not lying to me Gaby, because I will find out if there is" Rachel warned

"Mum there's not I promise" Gaby said

"Well I've got a good mind to ring Sophie's Mum and check with her"

"Oh my god I'd literally never speak to you again if you did that, it would be so embarrassing!" Gaby said "Please can I go? Emma, Jess and Chloe are all going"

Rachel sighed, but she realised she was fighting a loosing battle, and she would feel mean stopping her when her three best friends were going"

"Okay, but I'll pick you up at 12 not a minute later, and I mean it about the alcohol"

"Thanks, so much mum" Gaby said smiling

Rachel shook her head, she couldn't believe how much Gaby seemed to be growing up lately

As soon as they got to school Amy and Gaby got out to go and meet up with their friends

Rachel turned to Hannah "How are you feeling?"

"My stomach still hurts"

"Well hopefully the paracetamol you had should start working soon, but just take it easy this morning okay?"

Hannah nodded her head before getting out the car

Rachel watched her as she went off, she was really worried about her and didn't know what to do for the best

Hannah didn't know what to do with herself when she got to school, all her friends caught up with her, but she didn't really feel like talking to them and ended up wandering off by herself. She really didn't feel all that well either which was making everything even worse.

Eventually the bell rang for registration, so she went into school.

All morning she was finding it really difficult to concentrate though, every day she was so nervous about hearing bad news about her Dad, it was all she could think about. She didn't understand why it was affecting her so much, after all she'd barely known him her entire life, it just felt so awful to know what was going to happen to him.

She was in her English lesson and her stomach was getting worse, so she decided to go to the toilet

When she got there she realised her period had started and she didn't have any pads with her at school. She instantly began to panic and used some toilet paper, hoping it would be enough. She hated having to deal with it on top of everything else.

Rachel was having quite a stressful morning, there just seemed to be so many things happening and she hadn't been able to crack on as she'd already had about 6 kids sent to her with various things

Just as she finally got a minute to look at some paperwork that needed signing, there was another knock at the door

She rolled her eyes, today really wasn't turning into a good day

"Yes, come in" she shouted, really hoping this wasn't another misbehaving pupil

She was surprised when Amy walked in

"Amy whatever this is it better be bloody well important, I've got about 50 things that need doing" Rachel sighed, "And anyway why aren't you in class, the bell hasn't gone for break yet"

Amy realised that her auntie was particularly stressed and what she was about to say wasn't going to go down well

"I got sent out of my lesson" she said sheepishly

"Oh for gods sake Amy, what have you done?" She asked, she really wasn't in the mood for this right now

"I was messing around with Chloe and not doing my work and Miss Smith said I was being disrespectful"

"Please tell me you're not being serious" Rachel snapped "Messing around in class you're 15 years old for gods sake, I'd understand that from a year 7 but this is the most important time in school for you and the teachers are working so hard to get you through it, they deserve more than a complete lack of respect"

"Alright Rach it's not that bigger deal" Amy said

This was met with a glare from Rachel

"Yes, it is a big deal, I'm so annoyed with you messing around like that, and you know fine well you don't call me that in school"

"What your name?"

"Don't try and be clever young lady, you're treading on thin ice already and it doesn't work well with me"

Amy could tell Rachel was in an awful mood so knew better than to say anything else to her

"Right well since you clearly can't be trusted to behave sensibly in your lessons you can finish your work off in the cooler and spend break time and lunch time in there, and if I get even a hint that you've been acting up in any more lessons you'll be grounded for a week"

"Surely you're not going to ground me, I'm 15" Amy said laughing

"Well start acting it then, now off you go"

Amy rolled her eyes and went off, her auntie really could be a right pain at school sometimes

When Amy left Rachel could finally get on with some work

Hannah was sat in class and was feeling really worried about everything, her cramps seemed really bad and she had PE next lesson which made everything even worse

She decided to go and see her auntie at break to see if she could get out of it, she didn't want to tell her about her period as she still got really embarrassed about it but she hoped if she said she was feeling ill she might write her a note

When the bell rang she started walking towards Rachel's office, however she ended up bumping into Amy

"Hey Hannah are you okay?" Amy asked

"I don't feel that well, I'm just going to see Rachel"

"Oh well I'd be careful, she's in full-on stressed-out mood, I just got treated to one of her finest tongue lashings, whatever you do don't tell her you saw me I'm meant to be in the cooler"

"I won't don't worry"

After speaking to Amy Hannah realised, she was probably best avoiding Rachel, after all she didn't want to end up in trouble with her as well

She was a bit worried about doing PE though as her period seemed really bad

Once the bell went she went over to the changing rooms

"Are you okay Hannah, you seem so quiet" Olivia asked as they got changed. Olivia was one of Hannah's best friends and had been quite worried about her lately

Hannah just nodded her head in response, she didn't want to tell anyone what was going on

When there PE teacher came in Hannah went over to her

"Miss, I really don't feel well, can I sit out of PE?"

"Have you got a note?"

"no"

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to join in, we're doing trampolining you always enjoy that"

Hannah knew there was no point in arguing so went back to join her friends

She spent most of the lesson avoiding going on the trampoline but eventually Miss smith made her

As soon as she got up she could hear everyone laughing at her

She guessed what had happened and ran off into the changing rooms and burst into tears

Olivia followed after her and put an arm around her

"Hannah it's okay"

"My periods leaked everywhere, and everyone saw" Hannah sobbed

"Nobody will say anything I promise" she said "It's happened to me before too"

Hannah was glad Olivia was being so kind to her, she really was a lovely girl

"Do you want me to go and get your auntie"

"No it's okay, I'll go and see her soon" Hannah said, she felt that embarrassed she didn't even want her auntie knowing about what had happened

"Okay, I've got some pads in my bag if you need them"

"Yes please, I forgot to replace the ones in my school bag"

Hannah did feel a bit better after talking to Olivia but she still felt mortified

She decided to go up to her aunties office and see if she'd let her go home

Luckily Rachel was in a better mood now after having a little while to catch up on paperwork

Hannah knocked on her office door, Rachel was just by the coffee machine so opened it up for her, she could instantly tell she'd been crying

"Hannah what's up love?"

"I really don't feel well, I'm not lying I promise, please can I go home"

"Come inside my office" Rachel said

Hannah went in and sat down on the sofa

Rachel was about to sit down next to her when her office phone started ringing

"Two seconds, just let me get that"

Rachel was surprised when it was Hannah's PE teacher, she was calling to her Hannah had left PE upset and wanted to check she was okay.

Hannah hoped she hadn't said anything about what had happened

"That was Miss Jones, she said you were upset in PE and she wanted to make sure you were with me"

"Yeah because I felt really poorly" Hannah said

Rachel could see Hannah was pretty pale and really didn't look that well

"Well enough to stay in school?" she asked gently

"I don't think so"

"Okay well if you stay up here in my office I'll drive you home at lunch, I guess I can work from home this afternoon"

"What you'll stay home with me?" Hannah asked surprised, normally Rachel would get her Mum to look after them if they were ill

"Yeah well Grandma is out at the theatre this afternoon so there wouldn't be anyone to look after you and I don't really want to leave you on your own"

"Thanks Rachel" Hannah said

"Okay, well just give me 20 minutes to finish off here and make sure everything's in order for this afternoon then we'll go home"

Luckily Rachel managed to get everything sorted and got some work to take home with her

"Come on then Hannah, have you got all your stuff?"

"Yeah"

"Let's go then"

The two of them walked out to the car, it was a boiling hot day, so Rachel was looking forward to getting out of her suit when she got in

"Is it just your stomach that's hurting huh?"

"Yeah, I'm going to have a lie down when we get in"  
"Well that's probably a good idea, do you want a bit of lunch first?"

"I'm okay I don't feel that hungry"

"Alright love" she said

As soon as they got in Hannah went upstairs to get changed, she decided to get into her pyjamas

She remembered about her PE stuff, she decided to put her shorts in the washing basket now and just hoped Rachel wouldn't spot them amongst the other things in there

After she'd sorted that she got into bed, she really did feel rotten and hadn't slept properly in days so as soon as she closed her eyes she ended up falling asleep

After Rachel had gotten changed she made herself some lunch and a coffee

She then decided to put a wash on before doing some work

As she was sorting out the washing though she spotted Hannah's PE shorts, suddenly everything made more sense, she felt really sorry for Hannah, that was probably the last thing she needed on top of everything else.

She picked them up to put in the wash along with everything else

She didn't know whether to ask Hannah about it or not, but she knew how upset she'd be and wanted to make sure everything was okay

Rachel walked into her room however Hannah was fast asleep, so she decided to leave her for a little bit, she did look absolutely exhausted

Hannah didn't wake up for quite a while, she had really needed the sleep

Rachel went to check on her an hour or so later and found her awake

She went over and sat down on the bed next to her

"Have you been for a run Rachel" Hannah asked confused as to why Rachel was in her gym stuff

"No I'm going to the gym with my friend Louise later but I thought I'd just get changed now" she explained "I think going off for a run when I'm meant to be at work might be a step too far don't you?" she said causing Hannah to smile

"How are you feeling?"

"A little bit better"

"Well that's good, you probably just needed a rest" she said "Darling, is there something that happened in PE that you want to talk about?"

Hannah knew that Rachel must have found her stuff and instantly felt embarrassed

Hannah just shook her head, blushing bright red

"Did you get your period?"

Hannah didn't know what to do but nodded

"Oh love, I don't want to embarrass you I just wanted to check you were okay, I know it can't have been very nice but it's not that big a deal really"

"Everyone saw and it was so horrible" Hannah said "Olivia was really nice about it though"

"I know it was horrible, but it's happened to most girls before, honestly it's happened to me loads of times"

"Really?"

"Yeah, unfortunately as a woman it's something that's bound to happen, but the girls aren't going to say anything, by Monday it'll all have been forgotten"

"I hope so, I hate being a girl"

"I think everyone feels like that sometimes" Rachel said smiling slightly "I know it's really not what you need now though, especially with everything happening with your Dad"

Hannah suddenly started to cry, she just couldn't help it

"Hey, come here" Rachel said wrapping her arms around her and pulling her into her chest

Hannah started to sob into Rachel

"Shh it's alright, it's going to be okay"

"I'm getting your top all wet"

"Don't worry about that, it's only my gym stuff"

"It's not fair, I don't want Dad to die" Hannah mumbled "Why does everything bad have to happen to me"

Rachel didn't know what to say to this, she knew Hannah was having a pretty rotten deal at the moment

"I know love, I do understand I promise" she said "and there's nothing I can say that's going to make it any easier but I am always here or you and always will be"

Hannah stayed cuddled up to her auntie for a little bit, it was making her feel comforted

"do you feel a little bit better, I know it's eve worse when you're not very well either"

"Yeah my stomach is starting to feel better"

"Okay well let me know if you need anything" Rachel said "Now I know I'm supposed to be working but how about we stick a film on or something"

Rachel knew if she didn't do her work this afternoon, she'd have to stay up late tonight to get it finished, but she also knew Hannah needed her at the moment and she wanted to put her first

"Yeah that'd be really nice"

The two of them went through to the back room and put Mean girls on, Hannah always loved it and Rachel did end up getting quite into it

Before long it was time to pick the girls up from school

They got Ivy first who was glad she didn't have to go to her after school club tonight and then drove to Waterloo road to get Amy and Gaby, Rachel hoped nobody would spot her as she didn't exactly look very smart at the moment

Amy and Gaby spotted Rachel and got into the car

"Oh it's alright for some getting to skive off for the entire afternoon, if I'd have done that you wouldn't be very impressed" Amy said "It's a bit rich after the go you had at me for not working hard enough isn't it"

"Button that lip, Hannah wasn't very well so I took her home but I've been working solidly all afternoon, haven't I Hannah?"

Hannah smiled slightly and nodded deciding not to mention the fact they'd been curled up on the sofa watching a film all afternoon

"Yeah right" Amy said laughing

"Oi I'm still not happy with you about this morning so I really would watch it"

Amy decided not to push her luck and remained quiet or the majority of the journey home

As soon as they got in the girls rushed to get changed out of their uniforms

Gaby went into the kitchen to see her Mum

"Mum is it still okay if I go to the party tonight"

"Yep as long as you stick to what we agreed about alcohol" Rachel said "Will Tom be at the party?"

Rachel knew there was something going on between Gaby and Tom, they always seemed to be together and he'd been round to the house a couple of times. Although Rachel thought Gaby was far too young to be having boyfriends she couldn't really stop her and after all he did seem like a nice boy

"I guess so" gaby said, although she knew he definitely would be there

"You'll be pleased about that"

Gaby really didn't want to get into a conversation about it so went off

A couple of hours passed and Gaby decided to start getting ready, she was really excited as she hadn't been to a proper party before

She spent ages doing her hair and makeup before changing into a short red dress

Eventually she was ready so went downstairs

Rachel couldn't believe how grown up Gaby looked when she saw her

"You look very nice, you'll have to make sure you don't bend over in that dress though" she said "If I'd have worn that when I was your age …"

"Your Mum would have had a heartache, yes I know you tell me that every single time I wear a dress"

"Well it's true!" Rachel said "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep"

Rachel left Amy in charge and the two of them got in the car

Rachel drove round to Sophie's house

"Right have a nice time and I'll pick you up at midnight, and please be sensible Gaby, I'll be so annoyed if I find out you haven't"

"Mum I'll be fine I promise"

Rachel still didn't feel entirely happy about her going but knew there wasn't really anything she could do

Gaby went off inside

All her friends were already there when she arrived, so she walked straight over to them.

"You look amazing Gaby" Sophie said

"Aw thanks so much, so do you" Gaby said smiling "Are your parents in?"

"No don't worry, they're not coming back for a couple of hours so the place is all ours, I don't think they realise how many people have ended up coming though" Sophie said sounding worried

"It'll be fine, we can help you clear up the mess later"

"Do you want a drink? Jack and his friends have got loads for us"

The girls all felt quite excited drinking, none of them had much experience with it at all except for the awful time a few months ago when they'd all ended up getting in a state.

Sophie came back and made a vodka coke for each of them, they weren't really sure how much to put in and ended up making them quite strong

Gaby hated the taste of it but drank it all the same

The girls weren't used to drinking at all and it didn't take them long to feel quite tipsy. They were all having fun though and were dancing along to the music in the background

A couple of hours passed and by now everyone at the party was quite drunk, including Gaby who was now staggering quite a bit

Tom came over to her, he too was feeling quite drunk

"Hey Gaby, you look amazing tonight" he said

"Thanks" Gaby said smiling "So do you"

Tom put his hands round Gaby's waist and they started making out

They ended up getting quite passionate with each other, which was probably helped by the fact they were both quite drunk

"Gaby why don't we go into one of the bedrooms"

"Why?"

Tom just shrugged his shoulders

"Okay I guess we could"

Gaby followed Tom into one of the rooms

They started making out on the bed, it felt different and more intense than they ever had before

Slowly Tom started to put his hands up Gaby's leg, she was a bit shocked at first but didn't try to stop him

Before long things got even more passionate and Tom started fingering her

Gaby panicked a bit at this, she really wasn't sure if she was ready and ended up pulling away

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that" Tom said

"It's okay" Gaby said although she didn't sound too sure

"We don't have to do anything else I promise, you know I'd never push you into anything"

"I know, how about we go back outside"

The two of them quickly sorted themselves out before joining the others

Gaby let really confused and upset about what had happened

She instantly got herself another drink making it really strong

She told her best friends about it and they seemed really shocked, now that it had happened Gaby wished it hadn't, she just wanted to forget all about it

An hour or so passed and Gaby had, had far too much to drink, she also felt really emotional and kept going off to cry

"Gab I think you need to go home" Lucy said gently "Why don't we call your Mum"

"No she'll be angry" Gaby slurred

"Well just act sober and then she won't know"

Eventually Gaby agreed, she ended up texting Rachel to come and get her

It was about 11.30 when Rachel text Gaby to say she was waiting outside

Gaby said goodbye to her friends before walking out, she had sobered up a little but was still pretty drunk

She got in the front next to her Mum

"Hey how was your night?"

"It was good I had lots and lots of fun" Gaby said still slurring her words

Rachel could tell straight away she'd been drinking and instantly began to feel annoyed especially after the conversation they'd had earlier

"You've been drinking"

"No I haven't" Gaby protested

"Don't lie to me, I'm not stupid I can smell it on your breath Gaby, how could you go behind my back like this, you promised me there wouldn't be alcohol there!" Rachel said raising her voice

Gaby didn't say anything, she didn't have the energy to argue, everything that had happened was just getting to her and she started to cry

"I'm just so annoyed at you, you're far too young to be drinking, honestly Gaby how the hell am I supposed to trust you when you lie to me"

Gaby still didn't say anything she just sat there in tears

Rachel carried on shouting at her but it was just like white noise, none of it was going in

"I hope you realise you're going to be grounded for at least 2 weeks young lady" Rachel said as they pulled up on the drive, she was a bit worried though Gaby seemed extremely quiet and wasn't arguing back at all which was very unusual for her

"I don't need to tell you how disappointed I am in you, you've let me down so much" She continued

Hearing her Mum speak so harshly to her made everything even worse, tears were rolling down Gaby's cheek

It was only when they'd pulled up on the drive that Rachel realised Gaby was in tears, she hadn't looked at her properly while she was driving

She felt worried when she saw the state she was in and instantly softened towards her

"Gaby why are you crying, what's happened?" she asked

Gaby didn't say anything just continued to cry

"Should we go inside?"

Gaby just nodded so the two of them got out and went into the house

Rachel led Gaby through to the back room

Gaby instantly curled up and started sobbing loudly

Rachel crouched down beside her, feeling really concerned now "Sweetheart what's happened to make you this upset? You can tell me"

"I can't say" Gaby cried

"Yes you can, whatever it is I promise I'm not going to get mad"

"You will" Gaby said

Rachel was wondering what on earth had happened to upset Gaby so much

"Did something happen at the party"

Gaby just nodded

"What was it huh? I can't help unless you talk to me"

Gaby knew she couldn't keep it a secret, it was upsetting her too much "Me and Tom did stuff and now I feel horrible"

Rachel was shocked by this, Gaby was still so young

"What do you mean you did stuff?" Rachel said

"Mum I don't want to talk about it with you" Gaby cried feeling embarrassed

"Well I'm afraid you're going to have to, you are 13 years old Gaby! Surely you're not telling me you had sex with him"

"No we didn't have sex but he fingered me and now everything feels so weird" Gaby sobbed

"Gaby you are far too young to be getting into that sort of relationship with a boy, we've talked about sex and things so many times and now important it is to wait until you're ready"

"I didn't have sex with him" Gaby cried

"I know but you obviously weren't ready to do what you did or you wouldn't be feeling like this would you?" Rachel sighed

Gaby continued to cry hysterically "Are you really mad?"

"I'm not mad Gaby, I'm just worried about you and I don't like to see you upset like this" Rachel said "although I'm flaming furious with you about the drinking thing"

Gaby was crying even more now, Rachel got onto the sofa and pulled her into her

"Come on, it's all going to be okay I promise" She soothed "I know it feels horrible but you and Tom need to talk this all through together and it'll seem better once you have"

"I wish I hadn't have done it" Gaby mumbled

"Well I'm afraid there's nothing much you can do about it now is there? I am glad you told me about it though"

"I can't believe you're not yelling at me"

"Well I don't think it would do much good and besides I was your age once, I know what it's like when you start going out with boys and all the pressures you're under" Rachel said "You're going to wake up tomorrow with a sore head and feeling even worse about everything but give it a couple of weeks and you'll have moved on"

"Thanks for not being mad Mum"

"Believe me you're in for another massive lecture tomorrow about the drinking, I'm still very much mad about that" Rachel said "But let's leave that for tomorrow yeah?"

"Did you not get drunk at my age?" Gaby asked

"No I was a little saint" Rachel joked, knowing full well she was a far worse teenager than Gaby was

"I love you Mum" Gaby mumbled

"I love you too, no matter how much of a pain in the butt you are sometimes! Now come on let's get to bed I'm absolutely shattered"

Please review and suggest ideas xxxx


End file.
